A Review of My Sweet Angel by John Glatt
This review of My Sweet Angel contains affilate links.
John Glatt is a talented writer and he did a great job telling the story of Garnett Spears’ life in My Sweet Angel. Throughout the book, I was struck by a few things, stemming from my own experience with the medical system.
How Can a Mother Purposely Cause Her Child to Suffer?
Apollo recovering from heart surgery in 2012. He was 20 months old.
How can a mother purposely cause her child pain? I have watched my own son suffer through two heart surgeries, 4 1/2 years with a g-tube, and countless medical procedures and tests. The HARDEST thing I have ever done in my life was watching my toddler suffer…and at times hold him down during painful procedures. I cannot fathom doing this purposely.
Apollo being examined by his pulmonologist
How Do You Convince a Doctor Your Child is Sick…When He Isn’t?
The second thing I was struck by was HOW IN THE WORLD did Lacey convince these doctors to do all these tests, procedures, and surgeries on Garnett? My husband and I had to fight tooth and nail to get any doctor to listen to us when we repeatedly said, “our son is sick, he is suffering”. As it turns out, what his doctors said was “reflux” and a “milk allergy” was a congenital heart defect that required surgery. Yes, the Head of Otolarengyology a well-respected children’s hospital, misdiagnosed our son’s heart defect as a milk allergy.
Apollo, age two, at Seattle Children’s Hospital
Why is a Parent Knowing Medical Terms a Red Flag?
And the third, though lesser, point I was struck by was the repeated references to Lacey using the proper medical terms and how surprised the doctors were by this…and how it struck them as odd. I have news for you: when your baby is sick, you become an expert in that disease/disorder. You bet my husband and I use proper medical terms.
I can define laryngomalacia, tracheomalacia, double aortic arch, vascular ring, and more. I can explain the difference between a rigid and flexible bronchoscopy. I can explain why a child how has had their left subclavian artery rerouted is at a higher risk for subclavian steel syndrome…that is because as the parents of a sick child, Chuck and I have spent hours researching our son’s issues. We’ve read books and medical studies. I find it terrifying that this is seen as “odd” or an “indicator” for Munchausen by Proxy…I call it being a responsible, educated parent.
I am glad John Glatt has written this book…it was horrible to read, but well-written and informative.
