#take care of maya

[lifewithchronicpain]

Last night I watched "Take Care of Maya" on Netflix, which is a story of a young girl who was taken from her parents by the hospital. They didn't know about CRPS and it's treatments, and they assumed she was being abused because she was on ketamine.

Here's the worst part, the mother was accused of Munchausens by proxy, and was told by the doctor that diagnosed Maya, that if Maya wasn't treated correctly she could die. So being the one that was accused of abusing Maya, she killed herself to get her daughter out of the hospital. Maya was imprisoned in a hospital for 3 months and even though her condition worsened she was told by doctors and nurses that she was faking her pain.

It is a difficult documentary to watch and is incredibly heart breaking, but it highlights the abuses doctors and nurses can commit because they don't understand the diagnosis and treatment needed. Maya's mother was a nurse and documented everything. She was direct and insistent, and someone got offended and proceeded to ruin her life to the point she took it. And this has happened before.

I'm thoroughly sickened but I'm glad I listened to Maya and her story.

[bijouxcarys]

I’ve been doing this thing for about a year now, where I’ve made it a goal to try and find the documentary that disturbs me the most.

I stay away from documentaries that focus on animal abuse, since that’s just a massive no-go area, I can’t even think about someone as little as shout at an animal.

But I’ve watched quite a few at this point. I know a lot of people out there are also interested in this kind of thing, so I’ll give you some of the ones that have really had an impact on me. I’ll start with the tamest ones (available on mainstream platforms like Netflix) and it’ll get progressively more upsetting lol.

I’m actually quite a desensitised person, so if a documentary affects me, you know it’s worth it.

Green = unfortunate and upsetting

Orange = Jesus that’s fucked up, that’s latched onto me for a while

Red = The above + will find it difficult to watch again, and this made me cry my eyes out

Bold Red = Kept me up at night for a while + all the above. Still think about it to this day.

Bold with ** = don’t watch if you don’t have a strong stomach and can’t handle emotionless gory images

Take Care of Maya (2023) - Netflix

A nightmare unfolds for Jack and Beata Kowalski after they bring their 10-year-old daughter to the ER with unusual symptoms.

Tell Me Who I Am (2019) - Netflix

When Alex loses his memory after a serious motorcycle accident, he trusts his twin Marcus to tell him about his past, but he later discovers that Marcus is hiding a dark family secret.

Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey (2022) - Netflix

The rise of Warren Jeffs in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and his criminal case.

Abducted in Plain Sight (2017) - Netflix

In 1974, 12-year-old Jan Broberg is abducted from a small church-going community in Idaho by a trusted neighbour and close family friend.

Dreams of a Life (2011)

Discovering the truth about the life of a vivacious, intelligent woman - and how she came to be so tragically forgotten. Nobody noticed when 38-year-old Joyce Vincent died in her bedsit above a shopping mall in North London in 2003. When her remains were discovered three years later, her heating and her television were still on. Who was Joyce Vincent, and how could this happen to someone in today's age of communication?

Just Melvin, Just Evil (2000)

In this documentary focusing on his own tortured family tree, James Ronald Whitney chronicles an evil that seems too pure to be real: Melvin Just. Over the span of three generations, Just, who married Whitney's grandmother and was later convicted of child molestation, is revealed to have abused his stepchildren from two marriages. Whitney not only explores the unspeakable acts perpetrated by his grandfather, but also the legacy of self-destructive behavior that can all be traced back to Just.

Tickled (2016)

In a story stranger than fiction, journalist David Farrier uncovers a strange tickling subculture. Delving deeper into the dark world of a tickling competition, he meets with fierce resistance.

Holy Hell (2016)

Filmmaker Will Allen documents the time he spent with the Buddhafield, a Los Angeles spiritual group.

Jesus Camp (2006)

Filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady visit an evangelical Christian summer camp called Kids on Fire, where children take part in programs designed to strengthen and intensify their beliefs. The camp's founder, Becky Fischer, discusses her mission to indoctrinate youths in the word of God, while young campers play certain combat video games and talk about their love for Jesus.

There’s Something Wrong with Aunt Diane (2011)

The accident made national headlines: a suburban mother drove the wrong way on the Taconic State Parkway in New York and crashed head-on into an SUV, killing herself and seven others. In the aftermath, Diane Schuler was portrayed as a reckless drunk and a mother who cracked. But was she the monster the public made her out to be...or the perfect wife and mother that many say she was? Investigating the case six months after the accident, this documentary searches for answers to a mysterious and senseless tragedy.

Goodnight, Sugar Babe: The Killing of Vera Jo Reigle (2020)

The discovery of the mutilated body of a mentally challenged young mother begins a journey into madness that is so unbelievable the mastermind behind the crime ultimately got away with murder.

Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (1996)

Paradise Lost was a groundbreaking true crime documentary series released in 1996 that set the bar for the genre and influenced similar productions. The trilogy follows the story of three teenage boys who were wrongfully accused and convicted of a brutal triple homicide in West Memphis, Arkansas. The series explores themes of societal hysteria, wrongful convictions, and the power of media influence, and it launched the careers of filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky.

**Orozco the Embalmer (2001)**

A Spanish-language, Japanese-Colombian mondo film (a subgenre of exploitive documentary films) directed by Kiyotaka Tsurisaki, following a Colombian embalmer named Froilan Orozco Duarte, who is shown living in El Cartucho, an impoverished and crime-ridden area of Bogotá, Colombia, where the homicide rate is high and corpses can be seen on the streets.

The Dying Rooms (1995)

Documentary about a crew going from one orphanage to another in China to investigate these so called "dying rooms" where the orphanage workers leave baby girls to die.

The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan (2010)

In Afghanistan many hundreds of boys, often as young as ten, are being lured off the streets on the promise of a new life. Also known as Bacha Bāzī: an ancient Afghan practice in which men train, buy, and keep adolescent young boys for entertainment and sex in a society that keeps women hidden from view.

Boy Interrupted (2009)

Filmmaker Dana Perry documents the life of her son, Evan, a 15-year-old who committed suicide. The film traces Evan's growing mental illness, including videotapes made throughout his short life and interviews with his friends and doctors.

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008)

Dear Zachary is a both a touching tribute to a fallen friend and a heart-wrenching account of justice gone astray, skillfully put to film with no emotion spared.

[pleastrop]

I just saw Take Care of Maya and it just completely destroyed me, I literally can't stop crying, as someone with a chronic illnes it just hit right at home, the way nurses, doctors and other specialists would treat her, the way they said she (mind you, a TEN year old) was lying, the way she couldn't even walk and they still said it was psychological.

and don't even let me start talking about all the distress they caused to the family, to the point her mother took her own life

it's so devastating god I hate the system so much

[viking-raider]

I am RAGING! *triggers!!!*

I'm just finishing watching the Netflix documentary "Take Care of Maya".

I am so fucking angry at the system!

You can say, they were trying to do right by her, and there can be a couple of people involved that were! But Dr. Sally Smith, fuck you.

But Maya's mum, Beata, was the true warrior for her daughter's illness, CRPS Syndrome. It took them multiple doctors and treatments to get Maya on the right treatments and her illness bearable. But a hospital visit and one social worker fucked that all up. Causing Beata and Maya's dad to lose custody of Maya.

Beata was a nurse who, not only knew something wasn't right, but documented everything for the 80+ days that kept her daughter out of her care and hospitalized in John Hopkins All Children's Hospital. No doubt pissing off the doctors, social workers, judges and investigators with her countless questions and calls after her daughter's care, well-being, treatment plans. Accusing Beata of Munchausen by proxy and Maya of lying as well.

Sadly, the truth, that Maya does indeed have CRPS Syndrome, confirmed by an out-of-state specialist, didn't come until after Beata, disheartened by being kept away from her daughter and knowing Maya wasn't getting her proper treatment for her illness, for 87 long days, took her own life. The cherry on top, being denied giving her ten-year old daughter a hug at a custody hearing, the day before.

This fills me with such a raging anger. Beata did everything for Maya, the only thing she was guilty of was pushing and demanding to see her sick daughter and ensuring Maya got the correct treatment, so she wasn't in agony. It pisses me off more, knowing that more parents went and are going through the same thing.

Florida has a privatized child and adult protection system. Pinellas county has the highest case of child abuse victims being taken out of the home, mostly through Suncoast Center, who handled Maya's case.

[tumblem]

So glad Netflix made this movie. I hope the Klosowskis get the justice they deserve and the system corrects itself and the harm it is doing to hundreds of families with its over dependence on the opinions of "experts" that are abusing the vulnerable for personal gain.

[peterstarkss]

This netflix doc about Maya and her parents being accused of child abuse is horrifying.

I was 22 when I was in the hospital for about 2 weeks. My mom was there everyday. I had to get moved out of state and she came with me and the nurses even set up a bed for her in my icu room. I was in a medical coma for almost 1 whole week but she was my rock. She was there for every doctor visit, every PT, and even technically being an adult, I loved having her there to answer every question.

I can't imagine being just 10 years old, in chronic pain, in the hospital for months, and not being able to see my parents. Not to mention knowing there's a huge legal battle and being told things from doctors, social workers, lawyers and only being allowed supervised visits. AND THEN learning that your mother has committed suicide before you ever get a chance to reunite!!

[seokmattchuus]

Not kpop related, but I'm finally watching Take Care of Maya and the fact that time and time again social workers take kids from good homes and leave the ones in need in bad homes pisses me off.

Don't work with children if you don't care about them.

[howhow326]

So I know I'm "not supposed" to advocate for harassment buuut I kind of hope Sally Smith gets shunned in public.

This awful white women has been medically kidnapping black and latino children for who knows how long AND she helped drive a Polish woman to suicide because she was too direct with her and that made her mad (I know the doc dosen't bring up the fact that Beata was a Polish woman with an accent, but knowing that Sally Smith has racist tendencies leads me to the conclusion that she probably dosen't like people like Beata).

[red1culous]

Take Care of Maya

I watched this last night and cried my eyes out. It's a documentary about the Kowalski's and their struggles not so much with Maya's CRPS affliction but more so with Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital for allegedly abusing Maya Kowalski, then 10, and accusing her mother of Munchausen by proxy.

[hafwen]

I thought since I knew they won the lawsuit my medical trauma wouldn’t be too triggered by “take care of maya” but I was so very wrong

[neopet-euthanization]

anyone interested in self-advocacy particularly in a medical setting - please check out this youtube channel! he is a genuinely nice dude and he has ran hospitals and he is invested in patient welfare and self-advocacy. he is very available while he streams and answers questions about how to stand up for yourself and get the medical care you know you need! i have been feeling like a lot of people on tumblr could benefit from this guy's channel, so please check it out, subscribe, share the channel and/or this post!

[tumblem]

That is absolutely right. The hospital's lawyers are playing the system and the system is completely falling for it by not taking into consideration the effect these delays are having on the family.

[milkyautism]

I ended up watching "Take Care of Maya" on Netflix...

Suffice to say my cynicism has grown 3... hundred sizes. First world society has failed me once again.

[mvltisstuff]

if you haven’t watched take care of maya on netflix… do it rn istg it’s heartbreaking but so interesting

[lifewithchronicpain]

Fucking horrific. This phenomenon was the subject of the documentary “Take Care of Maya” who had CRPS, a similarly misunderstood and rare disease. Her mother was accused of child abuse, and then she killed herself to get her child out of the hospital because they were not properly treating her and she could die from that. It’s beyond fucked up, and now so many more parents and children are being neg traumatized because of nurses’ and doctors’ biased and utterly bigoted approach to pain and pain management.

i have no words

source

[fennshui]

I cried my fucking eyes out.