DO NOT TAKE YOUR CHILD TO PRAIRIE PEDIATRICS!!…read more
Two years ago today my wife and I lost our only child, our son Cameron Condon. He was almost two and half years old at the time of his death. Unfortunately Cameron was a patient of Prairie Pediatrics since he was born in January of 2013. His primary "doctor" at Prairie Pediatrics was Eyad Najdawi.
Right around his second birthday (January 2015) Cameron vomited for no apparent reason. A phone call and visit to Prairie Pediatrics didn't find anything abnormal and they thought it might just be a bug. Cameron continued vomiting, more frequently, over the next few weeks. Continued calls and visits fell upon deaf ears. First, they thought Cameron had allergies. Then they thought it was reflux but even after weeks of daily vomiting they failed to refer him to one of the GI specialist that regularly visited the clinic. When we even suggested that we should look at his head because he had recently fallen down some stairs at his daycare we were met with resistance and reassured that a head CT scan would be a waste of money!! Cameron continued to vomit more and more frequently and he was becoming more and more irritable and inconsolable.
After our countless phone calls and visits we finally decided that we could no longer follow Prairie Pediatrics directives to do nothing, we took Cameron to the hospital and insisted a head CT scan be completed. Within minutes they discovered a very dangerous, painful, and if left untreated often deadly situation, pressure from Cameron's spinal fluid had built up and was causing a condition known as hydrocephalus or a build up of fluid in the brain. Within an hour we were on our way to the Children's hospital in Sioux Falls to see specialists.
In approximately a two month span, despite over 30 phone calls back and forth and 6 office visits to Prairie Pediatrics none of their doctors could recognize the textbook symptoms of hydrocephalus. This condition is not rare, affecting approximately 1 in every 1,000 children! The fix for hydrocephalus is a routine procedure where they implant a shunt to help relieve the pressure on the brain. Increasing pressure in the brain will cause vomiting, nausea, irritability, and severe pain!!
Once in Sioux Falls we discovered that Cameron's hydrocephalus was being caused by a large tumor near his brain stem. The biopsy results came back that he had AT/RT (a very rare form of brain cancer). After multiple brain surgeries, chemotherapy, CT scans, countless pokes with needles and everything else that no child should ever have to endure, Cameron died on June 16th, 2015.
Najdawi and the entire staff at Prairie Pediatrics should be ashamed of how those involved in Cameron's care handled this situation. Cameron went through unnecessary severe pain and suffering because multiple members of their team were too stubborn to possibly explore other causes of a symptom that kept presenting itself over and over! The hydrocephalus could have been fixed regardless of whether or not the cancer kept progressing. His brain cancer had already metastasized by the time we were finally able to get a diagnosis. If we had found it sooner there is a chance he would still be here with us today.
In the two years since his death we have heard from all of his caregivers .....except Prairie Pediatrics....not one word, not one sorry for your loss, not one sympathy card, not one apology for failing to provide Cameron with basic medical help, NOTHING!!! I know acknowledging the transgression would require the company and doctors to feel sympathy, compassion, and maybe even a sense of responsibility, none of which Prairie Pediatrics or Najdawi displayed!!
After seeing the sheer amount of wanton disregard for Cameron's health and well being from Najdawi and multiple members of Prairie Pediatric's team along with the extreme disrespect and lack of sympathy with his death, I beg you, for your own piece of mind as well as your child's well-being, to reconsider taking your child to this place!!
If you would like any additional information or if you have any questions please feel free to message me.
- Submitted on 06/16/2017 -