Dangers of Physicians Practicing on Their Families

Student’s Name
Professor’s Name
Course
Date
Dangers of Physicians Practicing on their Families
In most cases, people count on their families to help when they get sick. The best thing about family members is that they are reliable and can take care of one of them when an individual is ill. However, more love can be dangerous, especially for physicians practicing with their families. Mothers’ unending love for their children can lead to overprotection and micromanaging when they get sick, which can become unhealthy at some point. In particular, due to their strong attachment to their young ones, mothers can do anything to protect their children. For example, in Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon, Dr. Pauline Whittier is Maddy’s mother. Maddy has a rare illness known as Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID), which she calls “bubble baby disease” (Yoon 15). The role of Maddy’s mother as the primary doctor makes it increasingly challenging for her to give her daughter the freedom she needs to interact with other people. Maddy believes that she is allergic to the world, which limits all her interactions with others and her social life. Dr. Pauline Whittier’s attachment issue makes her convince Maddy that she has a life-threatening disease through professional behavior and manipulates her so that she does not discover the truth.
Since Dr. Pauline Whittier is the primary doctor, she limits her daughter’s freedom to interact with others. Specifically, she makes Maddy believe that she is “allergic to allergic to the world” (Yoon 15). On the one hand, it can be perceived that Dr. Pauline Whittier was doing something good in trying to prolong her daughter’s life. Almost all mothers are concerned when it comes to the well-being of their children. They sacrifice numerous things to ensure that their young ones get the best lives. In this light, Maddy’s medical condition made it challenging for her to live like other children. That might explain why her mother did everything to ensure that she is protected from things that might deteriorate her health. Limiting Maddy’s freedom to interact with friends and other things appears to be the most convenient thing to protect her. Dr. Pauline Whittier had gone to an extent of hiring a full-time nurse, Carla, who was responsible for taking and recording Maddy’s vitals, such as blood pressure. Maddy’s home had been converted into a hospital to avoid all things that might worsen her health condition.
After Maddy was diagnosed with SCID, her mother sets limits to her freedom since she perceived that going outside might deteriorate her health condition. In particular, a SCID is a rare illness caused by gene mutations, which are involved in the growth and development of cells that fight against infections. Individuals with SCID are susceptible to severe infections. In other words, when one has SCID, anything can trigger various sicknesses, including food, chemicals in cleaning detergents, perfume, and other things that one might come across. Maddy’s mother told her daughter that she almost died when she was an infant. For seventeen years, Maddy has stayed indoors and never left her h...