Topic : 07/11 What’s Up, Doc?

Were you all not paying attention to the show?  These kids have a medical condition!  A condition that will require medical intervention to control.  Where in the world did you come up with them being abused?  I'm not sure we were watching the same show.  I think this family is very brave for going on national TV to tell their embarrassing story.  This will definately help many families out there who are struggling with the same condition.  I applaud  this family. 

It breaks my heart to read the responses to the boys with encopresis as the doctor said it is misunderstud by doctors and families alike.  My seven year old son and fourteen year old son have encopresis.  I have heard all sorts of excuses as to how it is my fault I should be punishing them more but as the doctor has said t his is a medical condition not a naughty child condition (my pediatrition believes my sons being naughty)  The thing we are struggling with is the same as the mother on tv...I find poop pebbles left all over the house....Hello this is not EAster and im at the point of just throwing underwear away im so tired of cleaning an touching it.  MY oldest had a pediatriction startted on the right track by taking and xray and finding out how sever his bowels were...they were totally block and backed up.  She then put him on miralax ...we did miralax for one to two years and to be honest there was no plan for how to wean him off of miralax so we did really solve the problem.  My 7 year old sons pedictrician is much older and believes hes doing it on purpose and I should punish him.  I feel so badly for them because its not there fault and yes people are mean and cruel, not just teenagers but adults as well. 

These kids need extra grace and compassion they have a serisous medical problem that if left to long can be life threating.  Also parents need to be give grace as well instead of the grief they have been given...its so easy to say something horrible about someone elses child or about there ability to parent but has anyone offered ligimate solutions.  I know I for one am out of ideas and would love any new advice to help my children and also help my poor nasty carpet :(

I completely agree with you.  My son has been on those same hormone injections just so he would be in the 'normal range'.  Doctors are advocates for that sort of thing but go the other way and you better watch out!  I think Dr. Phil and the producers need to seriously re-think this Dr. Masterson or whatever her name is.  There are numerous other caring and compassionate OB's out there willing to assist and not to apt to judge.

Just out of curiosity, is there any hope of future improvement for your child or is this permanent?  I know any good parent would agree with me when I say I would do anything for my child.  And, as hard as it has been, I wouldn't trade one single second to be with my son.  I have devoted my life to his well being and I couldn't be more proud of how he has handled his difficulties.  But, no parent deserves this and shame on anyone who wants to point the finger and judge them for their decisions.  My heart goes out to you! 

   Put Them In Diapers!!    it would save your laundry bill and you wouldnt smell it!

     reply

Dr. Phil,

I have never felt compelled to respond to a television program before, but what I saw today on your show broke my heart and angered me at the same time.  I believe Dr. Masterson needs to spend some time with a severely developmentally disabled and physically handicapped person before she so flippantly comments on such a difficult topic.  I have been blessed with three beautiful children,  my youngest daughter has a mitochondrial disease.  She is 4 years old with multiple disabilities.  She is mentally the age of a 9-12 month old.  She cannot walk or talk, she has a feeding tube, along with other medical issues.  She is also a very happy, loving little girl.  We cannot image life without her!  My heart immediately went out the family that made the very difficult decision to stunt their daughter's growth.  I know the struggles that they have gone through, and I understand about the worry of what happens as our children get older/bigger.  I am sure that they did not make this decision lightly.  I hope that they have opened doors for  other families in which this procedure is the right choice for their family. 

Dr. Masterson made some statements that did not even make any sense.  She stated she would never cut off her son's penis to stop testosterone and continued to comment on removing this little girls uterus and breasts.  Those comparisons are absolutely rediculous!  I can only assume that the son she refers to is a typically developing, healthy boy.  Who in their right mind would do that to a healthy, normal child with a normal adult life ahead of them?!?  The little girl she is so concerned that her breasts were removed is not and will not ever be aware of what breasts even are!  This little girl, like my daughter, will continue to grow(before her procedure) on the outside, but mentally she will remain an infant.  Why is it so important for an infant to have breasts.  Breast are for nursing children and this little girl will never do that.  This little girl has now been given the opportunity to continue to be able to do the things that she does get out of life- like living in her own home, being held and cuddled by her parents, and being able to participate in family outings more.

It is hard enough to adjust your life and maintain any sense of normalcy- whatever that is- when you have a child with special needs, without the added burden of all of this public criticism from someone on such a popular television program.  I think  Dr. Masterson neglected to study the facts of this little girls case before she made such insensitive comments.  Again, this girl is not just physically handicapped, she is not just mildly mentally retarded, she is an infant in a much larger package, and that is quite different.  I think this family made a difficult decision to improve their daughter's long term quality of life and also created a situation to be able to love and care for her themselves as long as possible. There are families that would institutionalize their children, and that may be the best choice for their family, but you wouldn't hear such an outcry of criticism for that.  I would love the opportunity to educate Dr. Masterson on how much parents of special needs children love their kids and only want what is best for them and any medical decision that has to be made is never done without alot of agonizing thought.  I think you should demand an apology from Dr. Masterson on behalf of the case she was referring to and for all of the families she offended.  It is her right to have a personal opinion, however, she was supposed to be offering her opinion as a medical professional and there was no medical reasoning behind any of the hurtful comments she made.  I hope you can get this rectified in some way.  Thank you for the opportunity to be heard.

I will be watching and waiting.

I can't believe the responses that I have read regarding the parents with the two boys with Encopresis.  I am a mother of a teen with encopresis.  My son is fifteen and has been dealing with this issue for 13 years and believe me it is much harder on him then it is on me.  Encopresis has nothing to do with not being potty trained.  It has to do with a person's inability to feel the urge to have a bowl movement.  It can be caused by the fear a child has (especially boys) to sit on the toilet and release themselves.  Boys with this condition has no problem urinating standing up but has a fear of pooping in an devise where they can't see what is happening to the item they are releasing from them. The child becomes so scared that they learn and train their bodies to hold in their bowls. They can hold off going to the bathroom for up to 5-7 days until there is no more room and the bowls has no choice but to come out.  Because they don't have the feeling to us the bathroom they do not feel themselves using the bathroom on themselves and once it happens they are scared and embarrassed and feel they will get into trouble.  They will hide their clothes or throw them away and lie about to entire situation. 

This will start a waterfall of depression, self doubt, low self esteem, low self worth, and thoughts of suicide.  The child can become angry and destructive and grades will fall.  This may look like the signs of a child on drugs but it's all about their  self worth being drowned.  How would you like to be that parent that has to deal with the thought that your child feels like taking their life because of something they have NO CONTROL over?  My son has been in counseling for more then then 10 years.  He can not control it, he can only manage it until his body teaches itself to feel the urge to go to the bathroom, something we take for grated for on a daily basis. Put yourself in those kids shoes and tell me what kind of emotional condition you would be in? Those boys have great parents because until you walk in our shoes you have no right to act like a 10 year old and make comments that is irresponsible. 

To the parents that was brave enough to go on television to get help hold strong. Get the boys counseling and follow a 6 - 12 month routine of a laxative and fiber program and in a year you will see a side of your kids you never thought could be seen.  There is a bright side and tell your boys that there is hope and they are not the only ones that has to go through this.

I am a parent with a 15 year old boy with the same problem; luckily, I found a doctor and counselor that understood what this condition is and helped my husband and myself along with our son.  Follow the laxative program and add fiber (pills are easier to convince the boys to take instead if power) to their daily routine.  It will take about 3 months before you will see a change, just don't let the boys stop.  They will tend to stop because they feel that since they have not had any accidents then they are ok.  Not so.  It will take about a year before their bodies start improving.  Because they are 10 and 15, it will be a struggle to keep them on task because they are also at the age where they think they know more then their parents anyway.  You may have heard this before but here is what I have done with my son.  I made him go to the bathroom 3 times a day, in the morning, when he comes home from school (he will not go to the bathroom anywhere else but home), and before he goes to bed.  I was a fight of parent to child power for almost a year.  Also, my son has never used toilet paper.  We provide wipes because they are able to clean themselves better.  Because of their ages, I would not push the enemas; they don’t care for it at all.  I also made my son start washing his own clothes.  When he realized that he had to handle his own clothes he started taking it seriously.  If you would like to talk to me on a private level for advice or support feel free.  We need to stick together for the health of our children.