Comment by Diane on June 26, 2008 at 4:24pm

Hi Jennifer,
This doctor should lost his liscence!! He is an incompetent and a jerk! A mother ALWAYS knows what is best for her child. Do not listen to a doctor saying that YOUR child will hate you... I just can not belive it! Again, YOU are the mother, YOU know your child, not this stupid man.
I've dealt with AA while I was young, now I'm AU. My parents did the best they could. This is what parent do. This physician, I'm sure he doesn't have a child to say such rude thing to you and being so insensitive to your daughter.
Good luck with your next derm.
Diane

Comment by Mandy on June 26, 2008 at 4:36pm

First of all, don't feel bad for "complaining" on here! That's what we're all here for! To support each other.

Well my goodness...I just can't believe that derm treated you that way and said some of those things! Unbelievable. My derm said the same thing - that the injections will definitely work and not to worry if I do them my hair will grow back like nothing ever happened. HA! They did not work for me. Granted, I only tried it for 2 treatments before I quit it and I hear you should give it more time to tell for sure. But my was progressing so quickly I didn't think it was worth the pain. Definitely try to find the derm that's right for you. I hope they will give you better info. Unfortunately the disease is different for everyone...so what works for some may not work for others and when some people see regrowth others may not. Etc etc etc. Hang in there Jennifer! You and your daughter will be in my thoughts!!

Hugs,
Mandy

Comment by Carol on June 26, 2008 at 5:29pm

I'm sorry to hear that you had a bad experience with your derm. First off, no treatment is guaranteed to work. Some treatments may work for some but not others. I've had alopecia since I was 1 year old and have had so many different treatments. I'm AU now and 30 years old. When children get alopecia they are more likely to have alopecia during their entire life time, the doctor didn't sugar coat that one! However, that's not to say it's written in stone either. The doctor's behaviour was astonishing! I'd have told him where to go before he laid a finger on my kid and I would have cried like a baby the whole way out - just to spite him! Hope you have better luck with the new dermatologist but always remember to follow your heart.

Comment by Christine on June 26, 2008 at 8:19pm

I felt your pain when I read your blog. How traumatic for your daughter. I got injections when I was 20 years old. Obviously, they did not work for me, but they sure hurt like you know what. The only thing that worked for me as a child was oral steroids, but I gained ALOT of weight while on them. I think I have tried every treatment, but this disease goes its own way. Love, acceptance and perhaps couselling seems like the best medicine to me. Good luck with you and your daughter's journey.

Comment by Tony on June 27, 2008 at 6:16am

Jennifer, my heart goes out to you and Alieena. No doctor or health care professional should ever treat you and your daughter like this doctor did. I applaud you for dumping him as you don't have to tolerate that kind of treatment. Know that you are doing what you can. There are no guarenteed cures, no magic pills or silver bullets. The best thing you can do for your daughter is to love her and to teach her to love herself. Looks from here like you're already doing a very good job at that.

Comment by kastababy on June 27, 2008 at 7:18pm

Jennifer, I am SO sorry you had to go through that with your baby! First of all, if this doctor doesn't want to treat pediatric patients then he shouldn't accept them into his practice. Second, if you haven't done so already, then I would call your state's medical licensing board and file a grievance against him. Make sure you provide them with dates and times of the appointment, and request a formal hearing if necessary. Third, make sure you report his practice to the Better Business Bureau so that anyone else looking to him for service knows what his bedside manner is. Finally, you could also consider filing a malpractice lawsuit against him. At no time whatsoever should your child have to be restrained for any reason for these treatments. The moment you said no, that doctor should have respected your decision as Alieena's PARENT and moved on to the next suggestion. I hope that this doesn't turn your baby off of trying any new treatments of any kind or doctors in general -- I wish I could hug her right now and tell her everything will be alright!

I totally understand how she feels - I received the scalp injections as well as received the hip injections, and neither of them were pleasant to deal with at all. Before your first appointment with the new dermatologist (if you haven't done so already) make sure you actually talk to the doctor herself and give her a brief background of how you were treated by the previous doctor and ask her about her expectations. I would also find out about the new doctor's track record in pediatric dermatology, and request references, if at all possible. A reputable doctor will be very happy to provide you this information, and a doctor that cares about your child's overall well-being will take your wishes into account when laying out a treatment plan. Finally, don't ever be afraid to walk out of a doctor's office with your child. If anyone tries to restrain you or prevent you from walking out, knock the hell out of them and keep going!!!

I'm sorry that your baby's spots are growing larger. I was just her age when my own hair fell out and I know how she must be feeling right now. We are all here for you (especially those of us who were children ourselves when we developed AA), and we are all praying for you and your baby!

Feel free to message me anytime if you want to talk, and please keep us posted on how the new dermatologist turns out!!

Comment by Trina on June 30, 2008 at 1:29pm

Wow! I am so amazed at the horrible stories people have with doctors. Even the ones that could not help were always plesant. As a person with AU and a daughter who is recovering from AA, this doctor was the worst thing walking. I just dont know if i could have bit my tongue. he was a serious jerk. I am sorry that her spots have gotten worse and maybe this doctor will have better luck. I pray that this dermatologist has a clue and if not then teach her to love herself and she will be fine. Alopecia is so tricky. My daughters dr would not use injections on kids because he said it was torture,and as a person who went through them as a kid he is right. They hurt like heck and i had horrible headaches after. Keep us posted and stay strong because this will test your strengh. But always remember go with your gut if it does not seem right it probably isnt.

Comment by Moni on December 29, 2008 at 3:39pm

Hello, Jenn. Girl, I'm with you on how you feel. This Alopecia thing sucks. I know I hear people say, "thank God your baby can run, talk, play, talk, etc." I am very grateful for all of this. But it hurts and what is IS. My baby (well she's 4) is the middle one. Her older sister is so vaine and her youngest one is just the same. Rebecca is more "tom-boy" in a sense. She loves dresses and stuff but can take more pain than the other two. Anyways, this is her 3rd shedding. Now that she's 4 she noticed what was happening. I prayed for God almighty to hoold onto to me because she was asking me for pony tails, she wanted her hair down when almost all of is was 80% gone. I cried and still do. Now she's bald 100%. Don't lose your faith in God. Faith is what moves him. I know what you mean about people not understanding. I too feel this web site is way too cool. I felt like a pin in the ocean. On Dec. 25th, I met this lady over at my dad's house. She's a friend of my dad's "wife". She must be about 50 something y/o. She told me when she was about 7 y/o she was completely bald. I told her "But you have A LOT of hair. She said to me she never thought her hair would regrow. She told me alot of stuff about her growing up in Mexico very poor and having to work early in the a.m. her mother would beat her about 10 times a day (she said not even her shadow would follow her). Anyways, she is already someone I know whose Alopecia was turned off. Lets keep our head up and be here for each other. I will pray for you and your baby. Bye for now.

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