26 medical appointments in 24 months.

[AnxietyMumEpi]

Do you think that's a lot?

My 24 mo DD has quite the range of health of health problems, I've been sorting out her NHS letters and that's how many she's had. Not including the usual things - vaccinations, health visitor checks, gp appointments for infections. It's things like blood tests, scans, ultrasounds, pediatrics appointments.

I mentioned at the last appointment I was finding it all a bit overwhelming and received a head tilt "Well she's not seriously ill like some children we see, is she?"
Of course I'm very grateful she's not and I understand it's much harder for those families. But am I being unreasonable to find it completely exhausting?

It is a lot and it's tiring. My DD has various medical issues and in the past has averaged one every two weeks which is really tough. She is 5 now and it has all calmed down (all though the medical issues are the same) and she has far less - maybe one every two months and these are less stressful as mainly for monitoring.

It helps that now she is at school various therapies (physio, SALT, OT) take place at school without my input.

Obviously each child is different but I would say hang in there, it should calm down even if it's a long term condition (unless life limiting i guess). Don't be afraid to push back sometimes if you feel it's too much "actually is it necessary to have that appointment, how about I monitor at home and contact you if I have concerns" "actually we have an appointment the day before and it's too much - can we shift that one to the following week" "well we are at the hospital on Wednesday for x, can we also see you then to save us a journey?"

Look into any available support (such as DLA) which you might have to fight for but means you can get a taxi/park in the expensive car park/buy a hospital sandwich/get a ready meal for tea without worrying about it. Best Wishes!

It's hard to understand unless you've been the one juggling the appointments, time off, rescheduling, watching symptoms on top of normal parenting. I dread to think how many dd has had in 11 years, on top of months of actual admissions, and it's always in the back of your mind, and that is exhausting!!

I used to take dd to the eye hospital in a city centre, it was a train, tram then bus ride (1hr 30) but a pain in the ass getting the pram on and off each one. A few years later after doing the journey every 3 months, the reception checked my address and casually asked why we didn't attend the clinic at X hospital - 2 miles from our house. It was the straw that broke the camel's back and I stood in the clinic bawling .

After that I've been a lot more questioning - where are clinics run, can I have the first or last app to reduce time out of work/school etc. There is usually an appointment that is more convenient if you ask - not always but often enough.