Disclaimer: This story is as told to us by Ms. Shirah Fish. It is from her perspective and personal experience. TribeHerald is open to reporting alternate perspectives from others involved, as well.
You may remember from last week Part I of the story of the Fish family’s experience at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. Here’s a refresher summary: Dassi Fish is a beautiful miracle baby, alongside her twin brother Zachary. The pair are the youngest of six children in Shirah Fish’s blended family. A divorced single mother, she is incredibly grateful for the support system she has from her Jewish community and medical support, without which caring for the premature twins would be exceedingly challenging. Dassi was born with a heart condition that is comorbid with a feeding condition, and spent the first four months of her life in the NICU. After only three weeks home, and with medical support staff rotating through the house regularly, Dassi’s weight and feeding patterns were causing great concern to this experienced mother. She consulted her pediatrician, who recommended that she take her daughter to the Emergency Room at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, where Dassi was already on a wait-list for their renowned Pediatric Cardiology treatment. She was admitted, and after some time, a bed opened up in Pediatric Cardiology. The family was transferred to the correct floor, and Ms. Fish was finally meeting with her daughter’s Attending Physician.
What happened next was an experience that many parents can relate to. Speaking with doctors, especially those with whom there is no established relationship, can be difficult. They don’t know your story, and some lack the bedside manner to treat parents as partners in care. So when Attending Physician Dr. Derek Spindler accused her of starving her baby, Ms. Fish thought she would just need to put on her Advocate, Explain, and Provide Evidence hat. She told TribeHerald that she began to explain that Dassi has a feeding problem, that she’s only been home for three weeks and has been in the NICU for the first four months of her life, and that she is in constant consultation with her pediatrician and this most recent weight loss is part of what drove her to come into the Emergency Room in the first place. Dr. Spindler’s responses did not strike Ms. Fish as sympathetic, and in fact, she felt she was being approached with incredulity. So, at first, Ms. Fish thought she was just dealing with a doctor who was prone to misbelieving parental accounts.
However, the interaction continued in a manner that felt very condescending to this proactive, well-supported mom of six. The accusations of starvation continued, and her frustrations rose as her story fell on non-listening ears, and eyes that expressed unwillingness to read the charts from other medical caregivers. So she did what any empowered and knowledgeable parent would do in this situation; she reached out to Patient Care and filed a formal complaint. It is what followed this complaint that opened her eyes to the fact that it was not only possible, but likely, that her entire experience in Pediatric Cardiology was tinged by racial prejudice against her Blackness.
Make sure to add tribe@tribeherald.com to your Address Book so you don’t miss the next newsletter, and check in with us next Thursday to read the personal accounting of how this Black, Orthodox Jewish mother first faced micro-aggressions, and then was grossly mischaracterized and then kept against her will by the Pediatric Cardiology staff at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan. If you have any personal experiences with this or any other hospital that you would like to share, please email tribe@tribeherald.com with Hospitals as the subject line.