mat_monster

First off, my sincere condolences to you and your family. Losing a child is devastating. As you said, the medical examiner didn't want to list SIDS as a cause of death, and I've noticed that this diagnosis seems to often have a cloud of suspicion associated with it. How has the reaction been when you have had to explain the cause to others, and have you or any of the people in your support group had to deal with any "pushback", for lack of a better term, over this? Wondering if your experience is similar to some cases I have seen in the past.

That seems to be common feeling with the patients I have interacted with, and whynotwaldo made a very illuminating post farther down in the thread that also dovetailed with my past experiences, in that there seems to be a lot of guilt associated with a non-specific diagnosis, as there is nothing really to point at and say "that's what did it". I can't speak from experience directly, but I can imagine the frustration of not knowing. I practice medicine for a living and see things every day that I just have to shrug my shoulders and say "I've never seen that before, not a clue", and it drives me insane some days. I hope you're able to assuage some of the guilt that you're feeling, that's a heavy burden to bear. It seems trite to say, but I hope for nothing but the best for you and your family in recovering from this tragedy.