Flexing My Medical Muscle

Keira was supposed to get discharged from the hospital last Saturday. She was really ready to get the hizzle out of there. Late Friday night, one of the midwives came in and informed us that her hemoglobin was low. She had been giving blood since she got into the hospital but this was the first anyone told us about anything. Her level was actually very low. If she had been actively bleeding or had a hemoglobin disorder she would have needed a blood transfusion. However, she was not bleeding and had no symptoms. They drew her blood saturday morning while i was on my way to Hanson for the home inspection. They decided she should stay another night because her hemoglobin was still low. She was rightfully upset. In fact, the doctor who made this decision had not even seen her. I called the hospital from the road to voice my discontent. I argued that while low, her hemoglobin was trending up, she had no symptoms, and that there was no point on having her stay in hospital because if she started bleeding or had symptoms we would return to the hospital. If she needed a transfusion, the blood would not even be ready in the time if would take to get back to the hospital. The midwife listened to my argument and talked with the doctor who reluctantly agreed to let her go home. BTW, she has been fine. We went the next morning to have her blood drawn which showed further improvement in her hemoglobin level. Word to the wise, don't mess with a pediatric intern :)