Jacob Warren-Scott Westman Was the Only Son

Jacob Warren-Scott Westman was the only son of Bryan and Carla Westman and was a lovely child. On October 26, 1998, Jacob woke up in the morning feeling unwell, as his head and stomach hurt and in addition he felt dizzy. His mother gave him some Advil for his headache. She believed that he had a touch of flu as she and Jacob's sister Lacey had just gotten over a bout of flu. She did not go to work and instead put her son to bed and he slept a lot and vomited on one occasion. He woke up in the evening complaining that he was still unwell and he was found to have developed a temperature, as he was hot to touch. His exact temperature could not be measured as the thermometer was misplaced and so she gave him some more Advil and put him in a lukewarm bath to cool off. Subsequently, she took him out of the tub dried him and redressed him and laid him on the couch and called her mother to bring a thermometer over. His temperature was high at 104.5 degrees Fahrenheit. She called the family doctor to get the child to hospital, but he did not appear to be too concerned about the high temperature. She managed to convince him by cooking up a story that an injury he had sustained appeared to have been infected. (Jacob Warren-Scott Westman)

This was necessary as the family depended on insurance to pay for the visit to the hospital. She took Jacob to the hospital in the neighborhood. When Jacob was checked in he complained of the same headache and stomach pain and also that his neck and shoulders were stiff. Formalities moved pretty fast in the hospital and the doctor soon appeared and started asking the child questions. She was not a pleasant person, but the fact that she was a doctor was all that mattered. Blood tests were ordered and these showed a high WBC count indicative of an infection. Additional tests were run and the doctor diagnosed Jacob as having a throat infection and ordered Zithromax, which she considered a strong enough antibiotic. Jacob's mother suggested that tests for Meningitis and Encephalitis be done, but the doctor turned it down as Jacob was quite steady mentally. (Jacob Warren-Scott Westman)