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Question about legal advice against neglectful doctors (kinda graphic, lol, sorry!)?

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Ok, 5 years ago I had my first little girl. I was 18 when I got pregnant, 5'0" tall, and 96 lbs. I didn't take anything about my pregnancy lightly. I worked from 7am-2pm, walked an hour to the next job, and worked there from 3pm-11pm, got home by 12am. I read every pregnancy book imaginable. I ended up gaining 121 lbs. I know when you have a baby you're gonna get stretch marks, saggy b***s/ belly, etc. But this is different. My stomach is now deformed, my stretch marks look like I was involved in an unfortunate zoo-mauling incident, I have stretch marks down to my feet.

Around 6 months, I noticed things weren't right. I was eating nothing but fruits and vegetables, yet I had gained 62 lbs. I was so swollen and sore all the time. It got to the point where I couldn't even walk upstairs to bed because of the excrutiating pain in my knees. I also had horrible pain in my lower back. I continued to work, though. When I asked the doctor about pre-eclampsia, he would say that my urine samples were negative for it. Now, at my doctor's office, they give you a test strip and tell you what to do, then a nurse checks it. The bottle of test strips is in the bathroom there with the different results on the back of the bottle. I checked it myself and it match to a very high level of protein which indicates pre-eclampsia. The nurse checked it and goes "Okay! Looks good." I also got tested for Gestational diabetes and they said it was negative.

No matter what I said to the doctor, I was treated like I was just another 18 year old that knew nothing. So D-Day comes a month early. I give birth to a 'premature' baby that weighed 9 lbs and was 22 inches long. Pretty big for a 'preemie' if you ask me. Needless to say, the birth was majorly complicated. They dislocated my hips MANUALLY so my daughter could get through. She ended up with a dislocated shoulder. And I'll spare you the majorly gross part and just say that it took 7 Suture kits to 'fix everything'. My mom was in with me (mother of four) and she was horrified. My blood pressure was sky high and then dropped really low because of the blood loss so I ended up passing out. When I came to, the doctor was saying "Well, it looks like she may have had undiagnosed pre-eclampsia. And she definitely had Gestational diabetes. That's obvious considering the size of the baby."

So my question, can I do anything legally about this. I feel like things went undiagnosed because I was young. And even though 'I' knew things were wrong and voiced it many times to the doctor, nothing was ever done. And here I am, 24 years old, unable to enjoy anything. I have a major complex about my body now. I don't go swimming because of the deformed stomach and horrid stretch marks that go down my legs, arms, hands and feet. I've lost the weight, but I think I look worse without it, lol. At least the fat filled in the wrinkly skin. Anyway, my attitude about it has ruined a marriage and other relationships. My fiance` now is wonderful to me and doesn't see anything wrong with the way I look. He makes me feel so good about myself. But I feel that the neglect from the doctor has cost me alot through the years. Is there anything that can be done??

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  1. This is a little too late but you should have gotten a second opinion if you knew you had pre-eclampsia and your OB-GYN just blew it off.

    As far as the body is concerned, I'm in the same boat and had no complications.  Even if you had no complications, there is no way to prove that your body wouldn't have gotten stretch marks.  I was 140 when I got pregnant the first time and had a 7lb baby and got stretch marks all over too!   My stomach hangs over my jeans too.  I just don't wear skimpy clothes anymore.  I don't feel great about how I look but you just deal with the hand you are dealt.  

    You probably could have filed a claim but 5 years may be too long (past the statute of limitations for medical malpractice) depending on your state.


  2. i'm not sure

    sorry for your problems, sounds horrible...

    anyways i wouldn't know, you would probably have to talk to a lawyer


  3. There's not much you can really do 5 years after the fact. You can try a civil suit perhaps... but your odds of winning anything are slim and the court fees would eat most of that up... unless you can find a lawyer that will work for a percentage of your winnings.

  4.      I would strongly recommend you consult another O.B., get his or her opinion, in addition to consulting an attorney who strictly works in the medical field.       Pick up the phone book in your area and start calling law firms and ask what type of law they practice.  If it has to do with the medical mal-practice ask some more questions, briefly tell your story and go from there.

       Best of luck.  My heart goes out to you.

  5. As far as I know, there is nothing you can do about it legally. However, your story is touching and should be published in magazines like the Reader's Digest. People and especially young teenagers as well as doctors should know and fix the problem so it won't happen again. You were right in thinking something was wrong.  

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