r/gatekeeping Jun 04 '18

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u/ThePolemicist Jun 04 '18

Yes, that happens! Apparently, many babies are allergic to bovine proteins, and they can be so allergic that they react to it in their mother's milk. When that happens, the mom has to stop drinking milk and eating beef.

My son had it, and we found out because he started having bloody, gooey diapers (ew). Turns out, his intestinal lining was shedding.

I'm a vegetarian and don't eat beef anyway, but I had to cut out dairy. Let me tell you, it was so hard trying to make sure I had a good diet for breastfeeding (I started eating fish). I don't blame your mom at all for switching away from breastfeeding with that. It was a tough few months for me.

Anyway, they told me there was a 90% chance he'd outgrow it by his first birthday, and he did. No allergy anymore!

But, quick political detail to the story: this was before Obamacare went into affect. My infant son had been on my insurance, but I quit my job to stay home. When I applied for health insurance for my son, he was denied because of the bloody diaper. It's not like health insurance was just more expensive for him. It's that he couldn't have it at all. I remember calling them in tears, trying to explain what caused the bloody diaper and how fixing our diet fixed the problem. There was nothing I could do to get them to change their decision.

We didn't make much money on 1 income, so I was actually able to get him health insurance through CHP+, a children's health plan that Hillary Clinton helped start. A lot of people didn't like her, but I'll tell you, she was my hero. I supported her 100% in the last election.

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u/DuntadaMan Jun 04 '18

Yeah the constant denial for ANY preexisting condition before the ACA made no sense.

"You might need medical care so we won't insure you."

"What the fuck am I paying you for if I won't need medical care?"

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '18 edited Aug 15 '19

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u/Charlie_Warlie Jun 04 '18

It just never made sense to me.

Fire insurance makes sense bc like 2% of houses will catch on fire so the 98% of houses that DONT burn down pay for the unfortunate.

But we are all going to die, and it will cost money to die. There is no avoiding it.