The documentary goes back to 2016, when a Florida girl named Maya Kowalski — who suffers from a complex medical condition — was removed from her parents’ custody because health care and government institutions had suspicions of medical child abuse, also known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy.
I never would have thought that watching this documentary would lead me to write the story you are about to read. But in September 2023, I came across an email that I just couldn’t ignore. A Jacksonville mother sent a news tip to our team hoping she could share her story, which instantly made me think of the Kowalskis’ case.
“The minute I saw the photographs on the computer, I fell in love with her,” Terri said. “Every visit, it just was more and more, and it got harder and harder to leave.”Terri recalled after they returned from a trip to Guatemala, around the time Malena was in first grade, Malena’s stomach pains became so intense she would lie in bed screaming.
Terri said around this time, a neighbor shared a story with her about a man who also struggled with gastrointestinal issues and ultimately got diagnosed with Lyme disease.During their visit to Guatemala before Malena’s symptoms worsened, there were reports of children getting Bartonella, a co-infection of Lyme disease, from sand fleas – which were all around the lake where they were staying.They started treatments, hopeful to have finally found a diagnosis.
“Conventional medicine has a hard time treating something we cannot see or isolate,” Campos wrote. “However, we cannot ignore that people’s lives changed after the diagnosis of Lyme disease. Their suffering is real. And the frustration is widespread.” In 2019, Malena was admitted to Wolfson Children’s Hospital for a depressive episode. She was released to go to New York to see her autoimmune neurologist, but when Terri and Malena got back from New York, doctors at Wolfson said they were concerned about the number of different medicines that Malena was taking.Terri said the hospital staff asked about Malena’s condition, her treatments — everything.
Still wanting to avoid Wolfson Children’s Hospital downtown, Terri took Malena to the hospital’s location near the Town Center on Dec. 21. They ended up transferring her downtown anyway, and Terri said nothing was done.Malena and Terri went back home the next day to celebrate Malena’s 16th birthday.