🩺💊💉🦠 Saving Meghan 🦠💉💊🩺 (2019) - Book Review

MY REVIEW

Hardcover: 384 pages

Publisher: St. Martin's Press (April 9, 2019)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1250107458

ISBN-13: 978-1250107459

“Can you love someone to death?

Some would say Becky Gerard is a devoted mother and would do anything for her only child. Others, including her husband Carl, claim she's obsessed and can't stop the vicious circle of finding a cure at her daughter's expense.

Fifteen-year-old Meghan has been in and out of hospitals with a plague of unexplained illnesses. But when the ailments take a sharp turn, clashing medical opinions begin to raise questions about the puzzling nature of Meghan’s illness. Doctors suspect Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a rare behavioral disorder where the primary caretaker seeks medical help for made-up symptoms of a child. Is this what's going on? Or is there something even more sinister at hand?

As the Gerards grow more and more suspicious of each other and their medical team, Becky must race against time to prove her daughter has a deadly disease. But first, she must confront her darkest fears and family secrets that threaten to not only upend her once-ordered life … but to destroy it.”

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for a print version of an advanced reader’s edition.


“Saving Meghan” is about a curiously ill teenager, Meghan Gerard. But is she really ill? That’s the question and the solution. The story is told from three perspectives: Becky (mom), Meghan (in first person format) and Dr. Zach Fisher – each with their own reasons for finding the truth.

[This ARC came with a motion-moving bookmark - it's all real]

[It's all in your head - nifty promotional tool]

Meghan’s mother, Becky, believes she is. She is desperate to find out what is wrong with her daughter, even bordering on obsession.

Meghan’s father, Carl, isn’t so sure – even going so far as to think that his daughter is faking it to please her mom. He knows about Becky’s past and her manipulative, scheming mother. He knows the history of their other child.

Dr. Zach Fisher – he lost his son to a strange and incurable illness because he didn’t believe his wife. He’s now desperate to save other children and parents from his and his son’s fate, despite the objects of the hospital staff. They think he’s diagnosing too many cases. Meghan being one of them – although her diagnosis isn’t conclusive, he believes it is the same thing his son had.

The novel explores whether Meghan is really ill, or if it is Munchausen by Proxy – is Becky planting thoughts in her daughter’s mind to make her believe she is ill? Is Meghan faking her illness because of her mother’s suggestions? Becky seeks information and support from every source, even a Facebook group.

Meghan knows how she feels – she is ill. She knows what her body is doing to her – how it is acting, but no one seemingly believes her. She just wants to be her old self again. Even she begins to wonder if it isn’t all in her head. But, the symptoms are physical – that much she knows

Despite no medical diagnosis and no abnormalities with her medical work-ups – Meghan is sick, or seemingly sick.

When some new symptoms present themselves, another physician is called in – Dr. Amanda Nash. She has her own ideas and won’t waiver from them. Her plan to “save” Meghan ends up tearing the family apart, perhaps even permanently. And, while Meghan is in the hospital, she’s not there for medical treatment.

No longer in charge of being able to make medical decisions for their child, Becky is staunch in her belief that Meghan is sick – she needs treatment. Carl believes it is Becky who is sick and needs treatment. One thing they agree on – they need to get custody of their daughter back.

Meghan just wants her body to function again – and to go home.

Things turn south when Meghan’s psychiatrist is found dead, an apparent murder, and Becky becomes a suspect.

The Gerards face losing another child – either to a mystery illness or the system. One thing is for certain – someone needs to save Meghan.

With the court against her, Becky then launches into a desperate attempt to find something wrong with Meghan. Is she wanting Meghan to be sick for attention or is she a loving, frightened mother who just wants to know what is wrong with her daughter?

Can Zach prevent another parent from suffering the same loss he did?

What secret is Carl hiding? What is his motive in the entire scheme?

DJ Palmer successfully represents all sides of the medical quandary:

#1.) Parents worst nightmare – what is wrong with my child?
When a child is sick, the parent is the first and usually only one to notice. With the myriad of illnesses out there, some with duplicating symptoms, it is often hard to narrow it down. The parent cares about their child, and is usually their strongest advocate.

Many cancer diagnoses were the result of second (2nd) and third (3rd) opinions. Had the parents stopped, their child might’ve died without treatment or died sooner. Then, adding the suspicion of “medical child abuse” to the mix, the parent can become despondent or depressed and even more desperate for answers.

#2.) Patient’s worst nightmare – what is wrong with me?
Usually when we go from feeling super energetic to super lethargic, we just want to feel like we did. We want to be the old person we were. Even when someone says it is all in our head, the headaches are physical, the nausea is real. When cognitive abilities decline, we want to be able to concentrate again – to feel “normal”. It is frustrating when the medical tests say we’re “all right, nothing medically wrong”, but we know how our body is acting – we know what we’re experiencing. Add in the knowledge that some medical tests are perfect, even for cancer patients, the frustration mounts to find an answer and be believed.

#3.) Medical Staff’s Frustration – NOT THIS PATIENT AND/OR PARENT AGAIN?! Medical professionals – nurses, doctors, and therapists rely on proven test data to narrow down a patient’s diagnosis. While they, above anyone, should know that a “normal” test doesn’t indicate the patient is healthy – it doesn’t always play out that way.

A vigilant doctor might want more testing, whereas another doctor believes there really is nothing wrong, even in a cancer patient, and sends the patient on their way. Some cancers do not have symptoms to narrow it down until almost the fourth (4th) stage. Despite all those past and known situations, many times doctors are either forced to look away by an unwilling insurance company, or by their own insistence on the perfect results in front of them.

When a parent insists something is wrong with their child, such as in this story, the medical provider must assume the worst. However, there are times when insistence has paid off and the child gets better with treatment.

Now, for the critical assessment:

Like others, I felt this book was a bit slow in getting started – but it was intensely interesting so I kept reading. I will say I found it predictable as to what the truth was.

The plot picked up in the middle and took off. However, the way it was wrapped up was too convenient and far too short. I won’t give it away – but if you read it, you will understand what some of us are talking about.

I’m a bit ambivalent about the ending – it wasn’t who I thought it was, but it was interesting to see how it played out. I would’ve liked to known how long “it” had been going on.

Some stated there were some clues as to how it would end, I didn’t really see them – I did know for a fact I was right about one person. It would’ve been more interesting to get some background on the other players: Carl, Dr. Nash, DCF – those characters.

With regard to the courtroom scenes they seemed rather far-fetched. Having studied criminal justice, it was a bit cringe-worthy to read. Also, it seemed that no one was really investigating the “claim”.

I also had my own questions regarding the plot –

** Wasn’t DCF brought in rather quickly?
** What probable cause did they really have to do what was done?
** If Meghan’s tests were normal – how was Becky harming her daughter? Hypnosis?
** How did the medical professionals think they were going to “prove” their case?
** Did no one question what was going on? Did no one on this team think to get a second opinion?
** Did no one think to contact other hospitals?
** Didn’t these “professionals” know other doctors they could consult with regarding this?
** How did Nash think she was going to get away with poisoning Meghan when most times the hospital prepared the soup??

I, like other reviews, also had a problem with how the writer kept describing how attractive Becky was as well. Yes, she was pretty, we understand – but I felt there was a subconscious fixation on it.

Being especially close to my mother – this book was an emotional read. I know how Meghan feels when her mother is the only one who believes her. I identified with both Meghan as the daughter, and Becky as the mother. I know the lengths my own mother would go to protect and save me, so I cannot fault Becky in her pursuit. Any parent would go to great lengths if they knew the truth and no one believed them.

This was a fairly entertaining read for the subject and genre.

This opinion is my own and was not influenced in any way.

4⭐⭐⭐⭐/5⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐