How mom and dad’s quick-thinking actions helped save son’s life from rare disease
By JAMES GORDON FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
Published: 20:35 EST, 6 March 2025 | Updated: 20:42 EST, 6 March 2025
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The parents of a five-year-old boy from Pennsylvania are being praised for making the quick-thinking decision to return to hospital, despite being recently discharged.
Gunnar Woodring was known to be a bright and lively child until early January when his health suddenly took a terrifying turn for the worse.
Initially diagnosed with influenza, his condition rapidly deteriorated, alarming his mother, Katie Woodring.
‘I said, Gunnar, are you having a hard time breathing? And he nodded yes. And I said to my husband, I know we were just discharged, but we need to go back to the emergency room,’ Katie said.
Her maternal instincts proving to be lifesaving.
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Doctors credit Gunnar’s survival to his parents’ quick actions and their refusal to ignore their instincts.
‘Had they not recognized that this was more than just the flu, more than just a mild viral illness.
‘They knew very early on that this child was quite ill and they did what great parents do: they advocated, and they said there’s something not right, so they saved their child’s life,’ Dr. Frank Maffei, Chair of Pediatrics and Chief of Pediatric Critical Care at Janet Weis Children’s Hospital, said.
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EVERYONE needs a Patient Advocate.
Not just a little child. The patient is not is a position to see and hear everything that’s going on.
As a PiA (Patient Advocate aka Giant Pain In The <synonym for donkey>) for my sainted wife, I keep my own chart and logs. I documented every interaction that happened in the hospital. And, I don’t take no <synonym for excrement> when the SHIF and she’s going into shock (low blood sugar) or coma (high blood sugar), I understand that the nursing staff can’t stand by 24/7, but I could. Once went 30 hours without a break during one tough interval.
I often thought I should have written a book about advocating for your patient. (Like the time I called the local Fire Department when there was an on-oxygen patient sneaking smokes in an overcrowded temporary ward in an old conference room. The Fire Chief personally thanked me after he shutdown the ER from accepting new patients. The head of the hospital wasn’t as happy when she visited my wife the day after. Like I cared. Frau asked me if I did it; I proudly said “sure did and I’d do it faster next time.” Never had the chance or need.) I found that the “head docs” never were upset or rude to me when I put in my “advice”. Their lesser team members were not as cordial. I’d seen a “head doc” have a heated hallway conversation with a “little doc” on more tha one occasion. Funny how much you can see when you are only focus on “your patient”.
I had all sorts of tricks to ingratiate myself to the staff (i.e., all ways thank and compliment the cleaning staff; box of donuts for the night nurses; never ask for a service I could do myself; never try to “help” the patient use the ladies room unless the nurse needed help). You have to strictly observe the boundaries. Remember you’re there to watch, record, and report. Not get in the way. The staff should barely know you are there. Remembering their names is easy when you write them all down.
Laugh! I could have take better notes if I had court reporter training. But I used some self-generated forms that helped a lot.
Bottom line: TL;DR. Always trust your instincts; docs and teams make mistakes.
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Reinke Faces Life 