Note: Part one of a two-part story.
ESTEVAN - On March 16, 2023, Breanna Reddick woke up with her face and lips swollen, like someone had beaten her up while she slept. She was prone to asthma and allergies, and that is what her mother Cindy Reddick thought it was.
Cindy Reddick has three children, her daughter Brittany, her son Brandon and her 16-year-old daughter Breanna. Cindy Reddick is engaged to Dale Feser. They have lived in Estevan most of their lives and the kids attend the Estevan Comprehensive School.
When Breanna was nine-months old, and Reddick stopped breast feeding her, that is when the problems began. Reddick had a normal pregnancy with no issues, yet she was dealing with an extremely sick child.
According to professionals, Breanna did not like the formula or milk, she was a fussy eater, and she was having growth spurts.
Next it was because she had asthma and allergies.
“You name it, there was an excuse every time for how Breanna felt,” said Reddick.
Breanna has always struggled with being constipated since she was a small child, but it was always chalked up to other issues such as her severe asthma, allergies and eating habits.
That morning when Breanna woke up all swollen, Reddick immediately gave her daughter her allergy medication, but it did nothing to bring the swelling down.
She was taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital, and they administered stronger allergy medication, but nothing changed. They finally gave Breanna prednisone, since she had been on this before, and they were sent home.
There was no improvement and Breanna’s lips were so swollen she could not eat.
Reddick called her pediatrician in Regina, Dr. Datta, who had been Breanna’s doctor since she was two years old, but could not get in to see him, since it had been over a year from their last visit, and they needed a referral from their family doctor.
On March 22, 2023, they got in to see Dr. Datta. He suggested they always carry an Epi-pen around.
Dr. Batta ran blood tests and all it showed was that Breanna’s white cell count was high, and this could mean so many things with a kid that was sick all the time.
If Breanna got a cold, it started like any other, but within 12 hours her fever always spiked over 104 F, and she got the bronchitis bark. She was always on some kind of puffers or nebulizers.
They returned to Dr. Datta on April 4, 2023, and he still could not figure out what was causing the swelling, so he referred the young woman to an allergy specialist in Regina.
After several days and no call from the specialist, Reddick called them, only to find out they were not going to get an appointment for six to nine months, which wasn't going to happen on Reddicks’s watch.
Reddick called Dr. Datta and explained this to him, and soon they had an appointment.
Dr. Fong, the allergy specialist, reassured the family that this was not allergy related, and they were referred to a dermatologist in Regina. Again, there was going to be a six-month wait, but with perseverance they had an appointment for April 24, 2023.
Everything this doctor suggested Reddick was already doing with her daughter or had tried it before, and it did not work. Dr. Fong had them go to a plastic surgeon to do a biopsy of her lip to get testing done of the tissue.
In the meantime, they went to see a naturopath in Windthorst. She too did not know what was wrong but knew it was in Breanna’s guts.
Things began to get worse for the young woman; her menstrual cycle became very heavy, and this caused more problems. They wanted to put Breanna on mild birth control, but Reddick was not in favour of this due to all the other issues her daughter was having.
“I believe without Dr. Datta, Breanna would not be here today,” said Reddick. “We would still be waiting for the first or second specialist.”
The second part of this story will appear in next week on 麻豆传媒AV and in the Observer.
