Honoring Sherry and Protecting Layla

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This one is probably one of the most personal and emotionally complex stories that I've covered It's a story about love loss, medical betrayal, and a fight that ultimately ended up in family court My guest is Scott Nassso. a former Rhode Island police officer whose life changed the moment that he met a woman named Sherry Sherri had already survived breast cancer once multiple rounds of chemotherapy and radiation Before her cancer went into remission Scott and Sherry married and started a family with the help of a surrogate. welcoming their daughter, Layla. Sherry had always wanted to be a mother and for a while, life unfolded the way that she had dreamed Cherry's parents, both doctors, live nearby, and were a regular part of the family's life But in twenty twenty three, Sherry started feeling unwell again According to Scott, her parents told her, it was Prozac withdrawal. Nothing more and that she didn't need to see other doctors, that she should wait it out Stop belieave them Cherry believed them Text messages later reviewed in Rhode Island Family Court reportedly show her appearance discouraging her from seeking outside care But Scott push for a second opinion anyway Sherry saw a neurologist, went to the AR, and the next day was diagnosed with a brain tumor roughly the size of a golf ball. She had surgery, came out in a coma. and died eleven days later on april twenty fourth, twenty twenty four. That same day, Scott says that he witnessed something that would change everything His in laws holding his daughter Layla down on the ground while her grandfather administered an injection of a steroid medication without Scott says, his knowledge or consent Her grandfather, Lla's pediatrician, had said in court that he didn't realize he needed the father's consent to treat his own granddaughter. What followed was months of legal battles. Scott filed a complaint with the State Health Department alleging the grandparents had an improperly prescribed medication to both his wife and daughter over the years, a complaint later reported on by the Boston Gobe. The grandparents meanwhile petition for visitation rights leading to a contempt of court fine when Scott refused to continue supervised visits. The trial that followed turned on a secretly recorded tape One grandparents themselves introduced as evidence. Now I want to be clear about something important here. The court's ruling addressed visitation only. There were no findings of fact were made and no determination or legal claim of malpractice regarding whether the grandparents's actions contributed to Sherry's death This conversation It's about grief But it's also about accountability, about a father who, even while mourning the love of his life, had to fight to protect his daughter Here is my interview with Scott Scott it is a pleasure to meet you. Nice to meet you as well. Tell me a little bit about yourself because you strike me as somebody who probably played like football in high school. So I grew up in Saugas, Massachusetts. It's a small town just north of Boston I went to sagas high school. I played hockey and baseball, no football. When I was younger I played football, but I didn't want lose my summers because those practices start in I think August So I graduated from Sagas highighchool and I moved down to Rhode Island. I went to college at Salve Virgine University. Oh yeah, I know that Oh yeah. It's beautiful. and I did my undergraduate there, my graduate degree. I got hired by the Middle toown Police Department. So it's the next town over And now I live in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, which is The nextxt town over for Middletown on Quidick Island, nice little small town And u Yeah. so I've been here since college. I love it Beautiful community How would you say people from Sugas may differ from people from Portsmouth and Rhode Island Regional like How are they regriginally different? It would seem on a map like they're pretty close together, but would you say there's a difference? the accent that much Unfortunately being down here, I lost a lot of my Boston accent. It's honestly, it's a small town, just like where I grew up. It very tight knit community Great people Yeah, I honestly it's it's They're very similar They're very similar in that. The great community feeling and a lot of support here and a lot of support where I grew up as well It still got some really good friends that live there. so it's Well, how did you meet Sherry So Jerry and I met backack in twenty sixteen We met through a mutual friend in Newport. We met at O'Brien's pub down Thames Street I like it already. You meet it in Irish.. Best place You know, So it was u yeah, Newport. it was u through a friend through a mutual friend And it was u The term I've said is love at first sight. I thought she was beautiful Yeah That was u Yeah, I remember the day Well, tell me about it. What was like I don't Again, we were at pubs, I don't remember the whole day, but you know. no, I'm kidding, but it was, u We got introduced and I remember I was seeing her for the first time and I just thought she was the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen This one always choks But yeah, so we, um We started dating. Yeah, in twenty sixteen And it was it was it was great. Yeah so Sherry grew up. She was born in Houston, Texas She grew up in East Greenwich Rhode Island, which is a fairly affluent community here in Rh Island Her parents are both from Iran Both physicians father's a was a sol practitioning, pediatrician, or mother, was the chief of pathology for a large hospital group loocally here. and so she went to school at Wheeler, which is on the east side of Providence Very nice school. And then for college, she went to Boston University. And after college She worked for a company University pathologist, which was a company that her mother was one of the owners of was a pathology lab. And she did a lab sales. So she sold the lab services to doctors That's what she was doing when we met And did you get married quickly? Did you date for quite some time So we got engaged in twenty eighteen withithin that first year of us dating You know, Sherry actually got diagnosed with breast cancer. So that was a real That was that was a very difficult point in our relationship, obviously, because we had just started dating We had She just moved in with me and it was really You know, when she got diagnosed, it was like Now what? you know, because we had We talked about, you know, getting married and having kids and all that. and now it's like, well, everything we have talked about now has to go on hold Did she like feel al lump or did she go to get a mammogram? How did she find out that she had breast cancer So she woke up in the morning and her Bus was and she felt something in her breast And she went to the to the breast doctor and that's when they find out. So it was u I remember the day she got diagnosed. It was a Sunday. It was actually Father's Day. and She found out And it was I she I was in the shower She I came busting in the bathroom They started crying on the bathroom floor Thereere's a wor It was hrible Um, but But u Yeah, so That happened within the first year of us dating she got diagnosed And once she You are finished You know, she went through She went through, you know, intensive chemotherapy. She went through breast surgeries radiation, oral chemotherapy, more breast surgeries and ultimately to a full breast reconstruction And we ended up getting engaged. I proposed to her in twenty eighteen And she wanted to wait a little bit to get married Just because she was still not where she wanted to be, you know, physically and so she wanted we ended up getting married september eighteenth of twenty twenty We have married right in our backyard Perfect right on the pati very small ceremony. My u M My childhood best friends married us, it was perfect, you know Yeah, that was Yeah thinking about that is tough Yeah, still stillill hits really hard I've had friends that have gone through treatment for breast cancer as well And I'm only imagining all of the feeling that went into concerned about her own treatment, but also you said that she wanted to be a mom. So How did the treatment complicate desire and journey So her type of cancer was Estrogen receptor positive. So Day one. of going to Dana Farour She had to make the decision or we, as I guess as a couple had to make the decision If you wanted to have children You need to, you know, essentially do the fertility treatments and freeze your eggs Or Now in doing that because her tumor or her cancer was extrodur re seepor positive Her oncologists explained the likelihood from the fertility treatments The likelihood it could cause her cancer to spread because of the estrogen. you know, I guess they, you know from what the way it was explained to me is basically they're introducing estrogen or giving you estrogen to produce the eggs. so that could cause her cancer to spread So day one at Dana Farbara, we had to make the decision of what to do. and at that juncture was the choice we had to make. It was either, you know the cancer could spread or we just off having children or you know, maybe she can't have children because her oncologist had said, you know, when all this is done in maybe ten or twelve years, your reproductive system may start up back on its own But we can't promise anything. and the likelihood was slim. So but again, you know, that junks you had to make the decision, you know Sherry's life is more important than a potentially unborn child that we hadn't even thought about, you know, that we ha weren't having So ye had, day one, we had to make that decision. and it was it was difficult, but you know, with medical advancements nowadays As you can see, Leil was born, right? So you know, there were other options for us. You know, there was surrogacy, egg donation, which we ended up doing, you know, we looked at adoption as well, thought about that. and but yeah, so that was Day one, it was a tough decision we had to make. but She immediately started chemotherapy, infusion chemotherapy And then it was she had a u her right breast removed and some nodes where the cancer was And then following that she went through an intensive like Yeah I want to say maybe thirty three radiation treatments result radiation. And then I believe after that, there was an Oral chemotherapy And then she went for she had her left breast removed and they did a surgery called I believe it was a lactissmus flap surger. basically they had taken some of her lat muscle h. brought it under her arm and made a pocket for the birds implant on rights side. And they had put tissue expanders in and then, you know, after that, she had the, you know, full addressed reconstruction. Once all that was done And, um, yeah is a very long process. It's a And home I'm like Get Choked up because you go back and you My as' as an I'm explaining these things to you I'm I'm like re almost reliving those moments It's a lot for a young couple to be experiencing I'm so glad you were there for her throughout all of that. I can't even imagine how terrifying that must have been for her It was, it was. it was. she was scared that'll put any, you know relationship to a test And it was it was it was difficult, obviously for so many reasons, but, you know, those medications and He was they really do a number on you. she had this beautiful black hair and you know, you started losing her hair. It was just it was she had a really, really difficult time. And I mean, we did. I mean being a You know There's plenty of people out there that have been caregivers and It takes a toll on you as well because you You need to be strong for them m going back as I'm as I was explaining these things to you, I'm like, be living moments in my head You know, even after like surgeries, you know, all the pain, having an you know loog and changed, you know, the drains from her surgeries you know, uh, you know And just it it's really you look back and think You know Just how brave now strong of a person She wases A Sorry, it's just It's tough You know, but that She handled all of that with just such like She is still beautiful Mhm She was so courageous It was a is really inspiring a young couple, you know, newly, you know you know, people had said to me early on, did you get diagnosed? Like are you sure like are you sure you can handle this? Are you sure that you can deal with this? Is this what you want? likeike, you know, I mean Nobody wants it, but yeah, of course, I love Of course, I want to be here for her You know And a You know, that definitely put our relationship to a test, but at the same time That happened we had just we literally two months before that, it just started building our house You know, and If anybody's ever built a house, that alone puts a relationship to a test, you know? And then you throw in the cancer diagnosis and I had I was just at the also at like the same time was falling into a, you know, new position at work, you know, where I was transitioning not transitioning from, but I was a detective in middletown you know, workking general assignment cases and now You know, like ortly before that or around that time, I was going into working in this drug trafficking unit called Hida. It stands for high intensity drug trafficking areas. It was task force that targets high level narcotics trafficking and I was that was a You know, I was going from being there part time to transition to being there full time And that was also difficult you know for me because the hours my hours were all over the place and, you know, but it was what I loved to do is what I wanted to do So right in that window, there was three major things that we had as a you know, couple like my job change That was just more on me Um, And then also like the hours changed, you know, were difficult at first to get used to, you know, as a couple, but building a house and then the biggest one was her getting diagnosed with cancer. so it was Yeah I was Right out of the gate, our relationship was put to a test And then you have this good news of a baby And that was yeah And that was Once we were, you know Once we got married and we're on the what we thought was on the other side of her cancer, you know? And, you know, She wanted I mean, we wanted to have have a baby, you know, but it was At that time, Again, building it Sure had lost her job as well You know, I was working a lot. I mean, I didn didn't just work as a police officer. You know, I was doing everything under the sun I could to provide for my family But that at that point in our lives, you know, we really didn't have the money for surrogacy And, you know, you We had to have an egg donation and have embryos created And then there was a surrogate involved as Wonderful woman out of Oregon. her and her family just fantastic And whereere I was going with that financially, like it wasn't like in the cards right then for us. And I had said, look, like You got to give me a little while to like recoup because we had just finished building our house You know, I was the only one working and I wanted her to be able to she want to be a stay home mom and raise a child That's what she wanted to do And with everything she had gone through and our short relationship with everything, just the cancer diagnosis alone Everything she went through fighting for that. That's all I wanted her to do is just Do what she want She wanted to be a mom. She wanted to be stay home mom. So I worked my tail off so she could do that You know Bine That being said, we didn't have the money at that point H parents said they wanted to help And at first I said, you know, I was kind of against it. I don't want handouts from anyone. I want to be able to provide for my family, you know, She really want to have a child and they They seem sincere. They seemed genuine. We really want to help them they're very wealthy And u I said, okay So we'm grateful for that You know, but it was Looking back on that, it's like I mean, it brought me the most beautiful daughter My daughter she's just beautiful. and it was Looking back though I think that was a contontrolal. And it was a power move. was ownership We're doing this. Have you ever noticed that your sheets slip off the corners? orr maybe your pillows just don't feel supportive anymore Most people actually keep their beddting way longer than they think they should It slowly wears down And then you don't realize how much it's affecting your sleep until you finally replace it And the truth is most people think that they need a new mattress, but the biggest difference usually comes from replacing what touches you every single night. That's why we upgraded our bed with Bowen brranch. 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See real customers, real homes, real feedback before anything hits your card. Ready to upgrade your home for way less Head to wayfair. com right now to shop all things home and get your space ready for less That's wAY fA I R. com Wayfair, every style, every home Did they ever make you feel bad about it? They never directly said anything to make me feel bad about it, but they did The because we were actually gonna to have a second child through surrogacy And by this point, I this was twenty twenty three. I had recouped financially. We were in a good place you know, um And I had the money to pay for it So We lookooked at surrogacy agencies. And she found this agency And I sent a deposit to the agency You know, I was the puzzle was a lot of money The gist of things was Sherry didn't vibe with that agency and they had like, I guess they had a falling out, whatever it was, I don't know. So they wired the money back And We were in the process of going back to use the first surrogacy agency She wanted to work with them again. I said, Okaykay. And the only reason we were looking for somebody different, the second round, somebody a little bit closer because the first agency was fantastic. It was just outstanding, but it was in Oregon Yeah across the countries. it was You know, but long and short of it is we were starting to have some marital problems related to her parents compleomplete lack of boundaries. And I had said to her, I said, Look, we need to get into marriage counseling. becausecause that your parents aren't listening. The boundaries aren't being respected you know, and I wanted to get into marriage counseling. and I had said because we had tried marriage counseling twice before. When the topic of her parents came up, she was like, she never wanted to go back So it was difficult, but I said, listen, if we're gonna have another child, like it was becoming really toxic to our family to me and my wife and my daughter You know, these lack the lack of respect for boundaries, the intrusion into are nuclear familial matters was profound to the point it was extremely toxic. It was driving a wedge between us And I said, look, if we want to have another child, we need to get getting in a marriage conant. we need to figure this out. We're a family Me, you and Lla, we're a family. The three of us are a family Okay And I would say I love your parents, but they need to respect our boundaries. interjecting and discipline, interjecting and just mind and shry' basic conversations And now I have realized they were doing a lot more than that, but What ended up happening was I said in order for us to have another child I want us to be in marriage counseling because we need to make sure we're on the same page We're a team We're a family, the three of us, me Sherry, Layla and the four of us if another child, right I said, thenen we'll, you know, let let's wait a little bit here. Let's get this sorted out because I don't want to bring a child into this It was very toxic, what this environment her parents had created I come home from work one day And I saw a receipt. behind my back Her mother. saw other Sent a check to the surrogacy company to start the process without telling me U Yeah That was Terrifying Looking it back now, it's terrifying. At the time I saw I was S I felt emasculated Somet that I didn't have m I had the money by this point You know? But it was just it just felt like I was never good enough for them You know, No matter what I did. I mean I I did everything for her parents, you know, becausecause I cared about them I love them. I thought they loved me You know, No matter I would drop anything I was doing. middle of the night, our heat isn't working A dropper I was doing go over to theouse middle the night Mhm You know, anything, whatever they need Did she have siblings? or she was she an only child? Sarea's only child. Okay So that So their their daughter. has cancer Yeah it complicates things too Why of course And, you know, it was When we first started dating, you know, I had And then she got cancer really early on in our relationship. And with being an only child, you know I chalked a lot of things up to just She's an only child You know That was what I had, you know, were they overbearing at points I thought they were, but again, she had She's going through treatments and stuff like that. So I just let her go. She wass the only child. I just, okay You know, but it was really after Layla was born. Mhm That's when like the That's when it really That's when things really, the heat really got turned up. In your memory, what was the first thing after Layla was born that really kind of raised your antennanas First thing after Layla was born So one of the things they would do In this this was a This really bothotherered and always bother I understand it a lot better now knowing what I know and they would only allow My parents to visit once a month Iel like an hour I was it once a mon and they had to be here It was very odd. And I was it would make me so upset But at the end of the day, like, you know I would just give in because I was trying to avoid conflict I was trying to avoid more stress in our marriage And my parents just out of respect for me in my marriage More pressure on your wife who's going through a multitude of health complications Yeah Yeah You know, because it was just really, like I said, it was very toxic And they were here all the time All the time I hear my door open at seven o'clock in the morning some days and they just walk in R You know and I would say to Sherry. Can they just Tell us before they show up They're just little things Looking back, it's like, you know, complete lack of boundaries. R complete lack of accountability, being it was always it's always somebody else's fault It's always somebody else's fault you know, and u When you live in an environment like that No. I'm saying for me, like living in that, you were just looking for peace Like I would just say things to just agree to just stop the so we didn't argue just to stop the the I don't know that it was it was like Trture, Like I just didn't want tona argue I would just give in just to avoid the arguments and The best way I can explain it As people use as I use the analogy of the frogs in the pot of water Mh You know, sharing I with these frogs in this pot of water And her parents were the ones controlling the temperature And it was like They were slowly turning up the heat to the point. you don't realize it But before you know it the water is boiling Okay Be they did this over such a long period of time. was such a gradual and calculated manipulation and deception And when you have somebody who lies and lies so convincingly, It's very like It's so difficult to see it when you're living I've been law enforment for almost two decades I've been an investigator fourteen, fifteen years I lived in it and I didn't see it until it was too late Do you think she saw it at all I think Sherry from a very Sherry from birth When she was a baby grew up in this environment H it was controlled, manipulated her whole life It was like this ammeshed Cependent relationship And It came out in trial because I had found Go through this trial in family court, One of the things I had to do was provide discovery And I was looking for this document in Sherry's email because we shared a computer. so I was in her email. I have gone and Sar's email after her passing like three times. It's just too difficult for me to go in there Yeah too set up her state for this and for the discovery one of the thing, but I found an email I found an email, excuse me, it wasn't an email. It was a Gail. It was a note. fromom her phone It was backed up to her Gmail. So her iPhone was syncing her notes to her Gmail. and this was in january of twenty nineteen It was a New Year's resolution things you wanted to learn. It was the things on that list were Some of them were so basic. it was like a It's like a teenager wrote it. And at the time she was in her early thirties. Like she wanted to know how to go through a drive through a bank. Furn know how to deposit a check. You don't know how to water plants I don know how to pay bill a tax bill, utility bill. basic things that you would know how to that you should know how to do at that age You know And she just, she didn't know how to do them And People say, well How't you see that? Well, it's very simple Because within that first year of us dating, she got diagnosed with cancer and started treatment. And and I just for me, I just stepped up and did everything I wanted her to focus on getting better, focus on treatments, resting when she could rest. And that's all I cared about I paid the bill. I didn't care I just did it instinctively So she didn't have to worry about ' all I care about is were getting better. And I just never knew I just never know I didn't realize how bad it was until after she passed away and I started seeing the text messages in her phone and finding that in her email and just really reflecting back on you know, the years of our relationship and looking at things for a different lens Because when you're living in it When you're living in the The manipulation You don't see it I'd be the first to tell you you don't see it And I look at myself and I carry a lot of guilt Iice I still carry guilt, not as much as I did. H It's u erry a lot I canill feel. becausecause If anybody is If anybody if there's anybody that should see it, it' somebody like me. and somebody who is an investigator who is trained in. And if it can happen to me, I'm telling you it can happen to anybody It can happen to anybody I'm somebody who should have seen it and I did That's how good It was and the manipulation was and how Yeah, it's that's something I'm also trying to like deal with. and I know like I know I shouldn't feel this way. It's very difficult When you go back in time, you have to make money to pay for all of these treatments and everything. So because of that I would assume that maybe they are going to a lot of her appointments because you can't because you have to work They never went to one It never went to one The only time they would show up is when it was the time for when she would have her surgeries I took my wife to every single one Wow every s Now when she was going through radiation I would meet her every day So H Her mother came to the first appointment at Dana Farver. The it was like the consultation. She came to that And then when Sherry would have surgeries herer parents would show up in the waiting room. But again You know, in my opinion, it was almost like a show. Right? Because Our friends were all there waiting for her. So like if they weren't there, that would look But her chemos I think she might have went to the radiation consultation, maybe. I can't remember but never went to another appointment. I took my wife to every appointment So her doctors are not in communication with her parents because they're not going to these meetings toares never went. the appointments no. her parents never went. And You know, it was um 're going to say There was in the they would go to the surgeries But again, I think it was more of a It was just a It was a show. It was a display. It wasn't like It was almost like they had to be there even even though when she's on her death bed they didn't show up They're u Yeah, I took my wife every Every single appointment I went All the chema, all the every single one. And like for all the radiation appointments, it was I think thirty I think it was thirty three I would take my lunch break at work and I would drive down and meet her because the radiation she did in Providence. instead of going to Boston, because it was every day So I would take my lunch break Monday through Friday because they were Monday through Friday I would take my lunch break and I would meet her at the radiology clinic And I would just sit there and just wait just so she had somebody there with her And u Yeah Yes Did she ever confide in you that she wanted to see other doctors? or do you think that she just fully trusted her parents' assessments I was yeah, now I she She trusted her parents Mhm, you know, I I use the term, you know, this is Others have used the termin, you trust the ones you love She trusted her parents with everything And you know, I I tried to get her to see other doctors, you know, I Shes wouldn't go Her parents were telling her not to go You know, and, um, It was There was an incident On it was Easter of twenty four You know, shortly before she went to the hospital And u She had said she was talking about, I had brought up or She had brought up o, you know He wants me to go see another doy in Oh no, it was one of her providers that she was seeing for ADHD was telling her that she needed to go see like a neurologist or neuropsychologist, whatever it was Protly you don't need to see that You don't need to see that person Next time you see her, meaning her provider You tell her you went to this person And she was like, Well, who did I go to? She said I don't know, make up somebody good Well Yeah You don't need to see anybody but tell her you saw this person. so it basically shuts her up. And I say, what? Like what are you? So she was she was telling Shera to lie to her provider And I'm like, what do are you And things weren't making sense And again, this is like a week or two before like ten days before. I ended up having to trick Sherry to go see our friend's father. It's it's it's terrifying and looking at her text after she passed away Just how forceful her parents were telling her not to go see any other doctor, tellelling her to go out for a walk in the fresh air She're't walk Unbeknownst to her doctor She's probably having all of these reactions to medications that were never prescribed. So She's her doctor is probably so confused as well She I she She is, she was, yes, absolutely. But Sherry also was canceling appointments and not going. Uh So this was a u se a psychiatric nurse practitioner that Sherry was seeing for ADHD And She would cancel appointments or she would do them through Zoom. and not going into the office. And you know, I feel that she was being influenced on those Zoom calls. Because like like we're on a zoom now, you can't see what's around me Right. You can't see if somebody's sitting over there. I be sitting right here Right somebody could be on the other side telling her Eactly. that would that's fear that I have and I think she would echo the same thing. like that's You know, my opinion, I think that she was influenced on those, but she was also canceling should cancel appointments because That provider pushing Sherry you know, see somebody and her parents We're doing the opposite And they were so forceful with her about who to see. I mean I mean, the texts have been published Some of the texts have been published, but I wouldn't see anybody else until you're off the medication. meaning her parents were telling her that the symptoms that she was experiencing these neurological symptoms were related to her withdrawing from Prozak. Right. So her parents were telling her that's where her problems were. Well, these are withdrawal symptoms for prozac So For me I mean, they were telling me the same thing And her mother would send articles and say, look, this is what it is Unbeknownst to me had also been giving her all of this medical advice and her father was writing her all of these prescription medications. And don't quote me on the number, but I think in the last year of her life, it was twenty six prescription medications. And the sure his father was prescribing You know, I could be on the the time and the number. You know, I don't want to put a number on it, but it was a lot I mean, he was giving her stuff for, you know H stomach issues, respiratory problems All kinds of things and Yeah In it esssentially, you know It's my belief that they were masking her symptoms that her cancer returned Well, this is a really difficult question to ask if they had not been involved Do you think that she'd be alm today In my opinion, But for Sherry's parents involvement, in her medical care I am I firmly believe We would not be having this conversation because my wife would be al. Absolutely, I believe that I do believe that Fullheartedly You know, and I also believe that They were harming my daughter O daughter thirty six. I mean Yes, Chge. H between birth in the age of, you know, before three, so called two and a half, you know A few three or four months shve Lia's third birthday. So I think it was thirty one or thirty two months old however old she would be at that point Llo was prescribed up until that point, thirty six prescription medications. the person who has never had children. I can't even begin to tell you how absolutely horrifying that is thirty six the national average and this is This was published by the I forget, it was a government entity published the number U I think it published maybe twenty sixteen The national average for trial zero to four was three point nine. Total prescriptions That's like one a year. I mean, they really do not want you to do a prescription, if not necessary Absolutely And like you said to the people who don't have children, I as an astronomical. I mean, you have children, so you can obviously relate. what I can tell you is Since that point since shortly after Sherry's passing Lila. has not been sick No sick visits Star doctor I got to renew doctor immediately. Now mind you Sherry's f If people weren't familiar with the story, I'm just going back up and clarify that Sherry's father was a L laylesss pediatrician. He was the one. Sherry's father was the one prescribing those thirty six medications. That makes me worry about other patients that he was the doctor for Yes. And, you know, I've seen some other people that have similar concerns that have, you know, I don't I don't want to say they' maybe posted comments or things like that on Some of the stories that have come out or the forums that have, you know People have started about this, but Yeah And u put that in perspective. That was Layla is called two and a half. Right. Lla will be five in July Okay sent in that period La has gone to the doctors, her new PCP, her new pediatrician, which is this she is a wonderful woman Wonderful woman, wonderful practice Great people. Layla has been to that office four times two annual exams and two flu shots. That's it. O annuals every year in for flu shot. That's it. Zero sick visits. Zero prescription medications And my daughter has not missed one single day of school Let me ask you this because I think it's again important to just remind people, you start dating Sherry and then she quickly gets a diagnosis. So he didn't have the time to sort of learearn all of these things that you would when're when you're dating I wonder in reflection if she had been in a doctor's office a lot as a child, had been in a lot of prescriptions, Did her experience as a child mirror the one that Layla was having under the care of her grandfather So what I can tell you from my investigation that I have done. U Sherry's father road sharing a lot of prescription medications So I could only obtain ten years worth of Jerry's prescription history U just because that That's all that was available sure. Yeah And there was one hundred and twenty four one hundred I believe one hundred and twenty four hundred and twenty five, I think prescription medications Now when Sherry was a child I again, her medical records, I have been lookingooking for Sherry's medical records, I It's, u Yeah, how ye I only have stuff from like when she was an adult I don't know what her childhood was like I don't M. as far as her but I also can't get medical records, but I also can't get the father's medical records for Sherry either Let me ask you this Did you ever meet any of her exes? Did she ever a boyfriend or a fiancee or anything before you? And have you been able to like, you know al about your mutual experiences There is one that I know of that she dated before me He is Iranian, he's a doctor older. Am and What I can say is I did meet him for the first time at Sherry's weight Hm. seem like a wonderful man. K I'm just, you know I'm getting emotionally even thinking back to that moment you know Be he was a mess. He was a wreck You know, a lot of people came through the funeral home that day and And one of the many people that cried like he did Wow But You know, I I've wondered You know I was hoping he'd reach out to me after her pass after that I was hoping I would get a chance to maybe talk to him about that I never heard from him again And I have a feeling I have a feeling that I believe her parents Maybe got said something to him or Whatever I don't know. Again, they her parents knew him. You know, um So You know, I that was something I've always I did. I I wanted to you know, talk to him about that Byo you know, I don't know where he's at on it. I was hopeful, you know, after the services that I would hear from him But I never did. Like I said, I it's my I just think that because of the relationship she had with her parents that they probably said something to him like they've said to other people, you know, about me that was, you know, They played the victim. they basically spun this around on me and You know, they they her parents tried to blame me for what happened I think there are people out there now. that are Regretting believing them. and regreting their decisions based on the facts, right R, that's I mean, what has come out in court and what's come on in the media should alarm Everybody. And what's out there This may be twenty percent of the story. The other eighty percent is just gonna Like we're not even scratching the surface. Yeah, the way I say it I've said to people is, you know, the train is just leaving the station. We haven't even gotone rolling yet So It's it's really to those people that turn their backs on For those people that didn't believe me You know, I think there's a lot of people out there with a lot of regret You know, and as they should have that You know, because they abandoned me, my daughter, my wife You know, And it's very difficult to wrap my head around that part of it as well becausecause the story It is one that's difficult to believe. but it's all true And for people to turn their backs on us and abandon us in our time and need It was difficult pill to swallow. It was difficult to wrap my head around, but in doing that I guess you learn who you're true friends are. you You learn when you go through something like this, when you go through trauma who you can count Well, I think The blessing of you coming forward is that it's going to allow other people to reach out and to be of support to you. I know this has been a massive financial burden. I mean, put that aside all of the emotional heartache that you've experienced. I know this has been mentally and physically exhausting And I think that the people that are listening, I know that they're going to want to help you. How How can we help you I am I've gotten' just people have reached out to me from all over the world. It's actually quite inspiring. it's board is great U I had some friends start to go funund me U They started They started to go fun me. for Lil and I to help with all our expenses. because the expenses that have incurred from this is just I incredible. I mean, it's's it's over a half a million dollars And you know, it's, um But the sad part about it is you're still in this legal fight. So it still goes on and on. It's not over. and that's what people peopleople don't understand that. P part of it yet maybe some people I don't want to say all people, but people don't understand that part of it yet You know, people like, oh my go, congratulations. you won. Well So my answer to that actually is I didn't win, right I My answer to that is I think As a country, as a society, we have all just lost As a nation P want to say, okay, yeah, you won. Think about it this way Did I win Or did we as a nation All just glues. Because when you as a citizen of this country. to defend a fundamental right fundamental right When you're forced to defend that right at a cost of half over half million dollars What? What kind of precedent did we just set Parents' rights are a fundamental right There's a fundamental right just as fundamental as your first, second, fourth minend Parents' rights are protected under the fourteenth Amendment And they are fundamental So when your force is a fit parent spend two years of your life Over half a million dollars. neverever mind the emotional and psychological And The time away from your child You know, that five hundred thousand is just a this is lawyer fees, right? Think about all the other stuff that goes into it, right? because I had weeks of court that were Febrary vacation April vacation You lose those, but also your child's out of school Do you need child I'm commuting to a courthouse, I don't remember how many times P Pbably close to third times You know It's probablyably more than that E mind all the outside like intensive investigative hours that went into putting this together And then to have a law firm like Veronica and Victoria Aslan Libardi They're the best and For those women and my team to do what they did in court. I mean that people didn't don't see the work behind all that And I've had people say to me, oh, you know, those legal bills are ridiculous Let me tell you something. If there's anybody that should be upset at the legal bills is me I'm gonna be the first person to defend those bills Those women put in hours after work. The amount of work that went into putting that case together every is incredible the amount of work that they put into that You know, and, you know, working well into the night, twenty hour days Like just it's incredible and I'm so grateful for them Um, but The bills, ye I'm tapped out I'm tapped out and people are saying to me like, oh, you, you know, Your daughter plays summer soccer Like no Lorry H gymnastics You know, I'm I'm just keeping it together enough to just pay my mortgage Right Payid for gas, paay for groceries It's it's u You know, Am I going to be forced to sell my house? I don't know