A Life Forgotten

“There was no one to tell and nowhere to hide. I kept the pain to myself and a part of me died.”

Weekly Report 4/16/18 to 4/22/18

“There was no one to tell and nowhere to hide. I kept the pain to myself and a part of me died.” Childhood should be carefree, playful, and filled with playing in the sun, not living in the midst of a nightmare. Physical abuse is often a topic that goes unheard, unsaid, and untold; however, it’s something that should be talked about and something that shouldn’t be the reality of one's childhood.

As much as I love the medical field, there’s always a case that gets to me emotionally. On my last visit, I saw one such case that was unimaginable and left me stunned to know that even in this privileged area, there are so many things that go on without our knowing. Babies are immensely delicate and a single shake to the head can bring about changes that can impede the development of the child. However, physical abuse depicts a different story. Infants that suffer from physical abuse can be stripped of their life in a second. Their development will be not progress and their lives are ruined in the blink of an eye.

During our patient visits in Dr. Braga’s clinic, we observed one such case. Dr. Braga explained MRI scans of each patient and their condition prior to us walking into the room. While every case was different and unfortunate, a single case really stuck in my head. That case was a physical abuse case of an infant and resulted in traumatic brain injury by abuse which impeded the development of the child completely. Imagine a child that is one year, two years or three years old, but he or she acts like a three month old, This was the condition of this patient and it was hurtful to see the detriment such a young child was going through. Children are so fragile and so innocent, I can't begin to imagine a child facing abuse the equivalence of being ejected out of a high speed car. According to Dr. Braga, whoever hurt this child must have had the intent hurt this child, otherwise such an impact would not be made on the brain. In fact, parts of the child’s brain are beginning to suffer brain loss as the normal gray matter of the brain is turning white in some areas, indicating brain loss. It’s truly desparining to see such a young child facing the consequences of physical abuse.

All children ask for is contact, love, and the side of a parent who truly cares for them, but when such things happen I once again lose respect for humanity. As much as I love the idea of pediatric neurosurgery, such cases will never leave my mind. It’s so much different when you are telling a story versus when you get to see the patient. It feels as if the child’s face has been imprinted in my mind and I can’t begin to imagine the detriment the mother must be feeling, especially after seeing the tears fall down her eyes. It’s unfortunate the things that go on in this world. The child could have grown up normally, lived a normal life, but one incident stripped the patient of their life.

All we can do now is pray for this family and pray that such things don’t happen again. It’s unfortunate that such things happen and all I can say is that I hope people understand the delicacy of a life and the responsibility that is given to a person who brings a new life into this world. I truly hope that people who are given this opportunity, justify it wholly and do not abuse the power of being a parent.

However, despite the unfortunate events of this case, it was a learning experience to see the versatility of cases within pediatric neurosurgery. Dr. Braga showed me multiple scans and looking at so many has begun to make me more familiar with how to read MRI scans. Of all medical fields, this field has certainly kept me on top of my feet and allowed me to see so many cases. As we approach FPN, deadlines are filing in and the final product is beginning to wrap up into its final stages.