Patient Testimonials

"When my youngest son, Peter, was 11 months old, he had his first apnea episode. He got upset and cried because he didn't get what he wanted. He cried for a little while, we don't believe in letting our children cry long, but we don't give them anything they want, either. He cried for about 30-40 more seconds and then instantly stopped. He turned around and then fell to the floor, lifeless, apneas, and cyanotic. I then picked him up and provided rescue breathing for about 10 seconds. Peter then started breathing on his own and started crying. He quickly pinked-up. When my officers from the fire department showed up, I refused transport because Peter was doing well. We thought that he might have choked on something and that this was an isolated incident. However, over the next few months, Peter had small episodes of apnea. Mom quickly held him to calm him down. If Mom didn't pick him up, she was afraid of him going unconscious and apnea. If she left him to do any small tasks, like getting the mail or leaving the room, he would just become apnea. What we noticed was that every time he would cry or get angry, he would just stop breathing. Then, about four months later, Peter again started crying, and after about a minute, he had another episode. I quickly gave him rescue breaths. But this time he wouldn't breathe on his own. My wife called 9-1-1 again. Peter started breathing on his own after about 1 minute of rescue breathing, but then he quit again. I again gave rescue breaths for about 30 seconds. During the second time, Peter had a seizure due to hypoxia. By the time Armada Township Fire Department arrived, Peter was breathing on his own, but he was very lethargic and pale. I told my chief that this time I wanted to transport my son ALS to the hospital. We then transported him as protocol to the hospital. At the hospital, the ER staff did blood tests, head CT, EEG, and 24-hour monitoring and all tests came back negative, showing nothing wrong. The ER doctors gave the diagnosis of a "very good breath holder". Then at the follow-up visit with the pediatric doctor she told us that Peter is a very good breath holder and that he will probably outgrow it. I told her that Peter doesn't hold his breath, he cries himself out of breath. I asked her if it could be that something is not allowing Peter's hypoxic drive to kick in. She again stuck with the "breath-holding" theory. She also said that because I am in EMS that I jump in too quickly and that Peter would start breathing fine if I just leave him alone. I totally disagree. When I had my next appointment with Dr. Khan, I explained this to him. My wife and I then brought Peter in for his first adjustment. Within four hours, Peter's complexion and demeanor greatly improved. Dr. Khan had us bring Peter in everyday for three to four weeks. Peter hasn't lost his breath since. The real problem was two of the cervical vertebrae were twisting, pinching the phrenic nerve, which controls the hypoxic drive. Peter is now 19 months old, and has not had an apnea episode since. The whole family sees Dr. Khan regularly. Thank you, Dr. Khan."