Waj
Waj’s daughter was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. She also has sleep apnoea, allergies, and asthma. Her daughter catches a flu-like illnesses every couple of weeks, but recovers slowly because of her asthma.
Waj’s daughter is 3 years old, and she was diagnosed with cerebral palsy a year ago. She also has sleep apnoea, allergies, and shows symptoms of asthma, although her doctors say that she is too young to be diagnosed with asthma.
Waj’s daughter becomes ill with colds and flu-like illnesses around every third week. She usually gets a runny nose first, which then develops into a wheezy chest, bad coughs, difficulties in breathing, irritated tonsils, and a temperature. Her asthma usually makes her flu last longer than average. Waj tries to control her daughter’s illness by using nasal sprays, vapours, and the inhaler as much as necessary (4-10 puffs a day). Waj also gives her daughter Calpol for her temperature. If her daughter doesn’t get better, Waj calls the ambulance, and they stay at the hospital for a couple of hours. Fortunately, her daughter’s illness has never been severe enough to warrant hospital admission. Waj also takes her daughter to the GP, who sometimes prescribes her daughter antibiotics to prevent further chest infections, or give her steroids to open up her chest. Waj is careful about giving her daughter antibiotics too often because she is worried about drug resistance. She thinks antibiotics should only be given when the doctors say that it is absolutely necessary.
Waj has adjusted her work schedule to meet her daughter’s health needs. She is employed part-time, so she usually works one week, and stays at home for two weeks when her daughter is ill. Waj’s workplace understands because she has been working there for 8 years, but Waj feels guilty about staying at home too often.
Generally, Waj has a good relationship with health professionals. However, she recalls two occasions when she thinks doctors stereotyped her because she was wearing a headscarf. Waj felt that the doctors assumed she didn’t speak English, therefore they spoke with her in a patronizing manner, using simplified English. To avoid incidents like this, Waj thinks that health professionals should receive more training on how to communicate with people from different ethnic backgrounds, and doctors should make more effort to treat their clients as equals.
Waj also thinks that doctors should listen to parents more because although the doctors have the medical knowledge, it is the parents who know how their child feels and behaves during an illness. Waj recalls that before her daughter was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, it took Waj several appointments to convince the doctors to do MRI scans on her daughter to check for cerebral palsy. Since, Waj’s daughter has received physiotherapy and muscle injections, and she can now use both of her legs.
Waj is not reluctant to ask doctors for explanations because she wants to make sure that she understands everything. On top of the information from health professionals, Waj also does her own research. She usually checks the NHS website, and talks to her family members and other parents for practical advice on how to manage her daughter’s illnesses.