Strangers Judge Them For Giving Their Baby Viagra, Until They Learn Heartbreaking Reason

When the Nilsson family brought their new baby daughter home from the hospital after being born, they were excited for the future they were going to build. But, shortly after bringing baby Elodie home, they began to notice troubling symptoms, such as swelling of her eyes and face, and nonstop diarrhea and vomiting as well as the fact that she did not seem to be growing.

When her parents took her back to the hospital, they found out that she had a rare disorder, and you will not believe the treatment doctors recommended.

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When Annie Nilsson and her husband brought their brand new baby daughter, Elodie, home for the first time, the proud parents were on top of the world. And why not? A new baby holds the promise of a better future and brings such joy into a home.But very quickly, they began to notice disturbing signs that indicated something might not be right with their baby. Facial swelling, diarrhea and vomiting and failure to gain weight, had them concerned. So they took her to see a doctor.

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After running some tests, Elodie’s doctor discovered that she suffers from intestinal lymphangiectasia, more commonly referred to as Waldmann disease.

People who suffer from this very rare condition have an enlargement of the lymph vessels supplying the lamina propria of the small intestine.

Annie explains “Her lymphatics all throughout her intestines were basically leaking and she was becoming malnourished.

Treatment for the disorder usually includes a high protein, low fat diet, and calcium and vitamin supplements. But as she was a newborn, most of these lifestyle changes would not be valid. So the Nilsson’s doctor made a strange recommendation.

He prescribed sildenafil. This is the active ingredient in the erectile dysfunction medicine Viagra. But it has also been successful in treating other medical conditions involving the vascular and lymphatic systems.

Now the Nilssons had a diagnosis and a course of treatment. But they hit a wall, as so many Americans do, when they went to their health insurance company. The company would not cover either the medication, nor the specialized formula and monthly injections that little Elodia would need to remain healthy and grow up strong.

As a result, the Nilssen family has started a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for their daughter’s medical care, and to raise awareness of this exceptionally rare disease.

So far, their campaign has raised about six thousand of the sixteen thousand dollars they established as their goal.

They have also started a petition on Change.org to get their problem, and one that many millions of Americans face, reviewed.

Until the enacting of the Affordable Care Act, tens of millions of Americans were denied health insurance or were charged exorbitant rates for coverage. Since 2009, while many have finally been able to get insurance policies, they are finding that the policies are fairly useless, and millions more who used to be able to afford insurance have found their rates skyrocket.

So if the solution to providing access to healthcare for all Americans cannot be provided by for-profit markets or by joint State/commercial efforts, what do you think the solution is? Is it time we look at the process by which so many other industrialized nations care for their citizens, or should we come to terms that it is impossible to care for everyone and that the free market is still the best choice we have? Share your thoughts with us here.

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Strangers Judge Them For Giving Their Baby Viagra, Until They Learn Heartbreaking Reason