Need a handhold - son in hospital

[HaudYerWheeshtYaWeeBellend]

Took him to A&E yesterday as he fell at the gym and we thought he had broken his wrist (thankfully just a sprain) however during their examinations they were worried about his circulation as his hands and lower arms were going blue and were cold to the touch, they advised we needed to make an appointment with his GP for further investigation.

Managed to get a GP appointment for 3pm today as the hospital suspect he could possibly have Raynaud's syndrome/disease

GP took his blood pressure and it was 177/127 , they thought the machine was faulty so got a another one and it was the same.

We had to take him straight to A&E, they’ve been trying to get bloods for the last 6 hrs but his veins keep collapsing and are unable to obtain his bloods, 2 doctors and 3 nurses have all tried with all sorts of needle sizes/cannulas etc… even with a vein scan machine, he’s been poked and prodded more times than we an count,

They’ve done a serious of tests, ECG, blood pressure cuffs on his arms and lower legs every 60 mins.

His only symptoms are some slight dizziness and some blurred vision, because of this they carried out a test where they turned the lights off and shown a torch in his eye… however the drs body language changed, she went and got her senior doctor to look and they redone the test.

We were then told to wait in the room as they needed to speak to a more senior doctor.

We were then put into a room, nurse came in about 45 mins later and advised he was being admitted, we asked why and she said has no one told you anything and we said no.

Doctor has come in and said DS is being transferred to another hospital, either tonight or tomorrow morning, he needs to see an specialist eye doctor , he also needs a urgent CT scan, possibly MRI and a heart scan as his ECG has shown some concerns and did we know he had a heart murmur.

They also need to get his bloods urgently somehow.

I’m not naive, I know what they are suspecting, I just need to be positive and hopefully the scans show nothing.

I’m confused . .. why B12 injections twice weekly for life?? They’re 3 monthly. What condition do you have that causes you to need injections?

3 monthly Injections are completely useless, might as well not bother. I'm under a Private consultant in Cambridge who is treating me, I have to source medication from Germany to self inject. Ufortunately the NHS is woefully under resourced and lacking in knowledge where B12 deficiency is concerned. I have B12 deficiency caused by malabsortion, cause still under investigation. Intrinsic Factor negative, awaiting Gastric Parietal Cell and ANA testing to establish the cause but it's likely an autoimmune issue triggered by covid or another virus. My B12 serum level was 127.

I have heard daily or every other day b12 injections are where it’s at but the nhs is very behind other countries in this regard.

Definitely test b12 - and ditto butterfly, the 3 monthly thing is BS, useless, the correct protocol is every other day until no further improvement and then back off a bit until you find the right intervals for you. Testing just tells you how much is floating round the body - it cannot tell you how much of what you have is actually being used by your body so some of us will need significantly more 'in the tank' than others (and sadly, than the NHS appears to think everyone should have).

And I have just discovered I can no longer buy my B12 from the amazon.de seller I was getting it from (not to derail thread, anyone buying it themselves shipped to the UK please do PM me with a source!!).

A B12 deficiency can leave you feeling awful, blurry vision, brain fog, struggling to get out of bed, falling asleep, struggling to find words... horrible!

OP forgive but are you sure he’s not lying about steroid use ? Is it one that can go undetected maybe ? Teenage boys do sometimes lie. I’m sorry to ask this but it keeps occurring to me.

@Lavenderfarmcottagei agree. I keep thinking about it too.
I don’t think the nurse was rude. You are meant to ask these questions. It is hard to hear as a mother. Girls are asked questions about sex etc when they have abdominal pain when they are virgins. Healthcare professionals aren’t mind readers.

@HaudYerWheeshtYaWeeBellendI am from the same area and you’d be surprised at how many teenagers in sport use steroids. We are having a few through now coming through GP land who are having fertility struggles and it stems back to using steroids in their teens.

I hope you get some answers soon

Nurses and doctors have to ask difficult questions. They should not do this when parents are present and should not imply that a blood test will show you are lying.

OP although the delays are irritating they are because your son's condition is no longer seen as potentially very dangerous, so good news really. And ad least further tests are scheduled.

Ask the difficult question…don’t accuse people. Let us not pretend that some medical workers don’t have terrible bedside manners.

Thankfully, most are superb and could ask a difficult question without causing offence.

This thread is about airing concern and receiving support and a kind word during a worrying time.

Yes there are ways of asking these questions
My son was admitted with acute necrotizing pancreititis, he was 16 it's apparently very unusual to get it at such a young age and apparently one of the causes ( not all before I'm jumped on ) is excessive alcohol misuse ,a
The Dr was sensitive and said I'm sorry I have ti ask you does he drink alcohol
He doesn't and he barely goes out it just doesn't interest him but I understand why they had to ask.

Sadly this isn’t the case and it’s very ignorant of you to think this

Medical evidence shows that the Covid vaccine along with other vaccines is safe - and save millions of lives. As with any vaccine there will be an incredibly small number of people who are affected by side effects.
Unfortunately Covid itself can cause many long term health conditions.

I think the covid vaccine has done more harm than covid itself.

Im.not sure speculation about the covid vaccine is in any way helpful right now.

You are so right. It’s nearly five years since I had Covid and I now have a chronic health condition as a result of having Covid.

@x2boysYes and I've asked for it to be removed, but it's still there. My apologies OP, I hope everything turns out well for your son.

@WiddlinDiddlin I get vials from Etsy and self inject about once a month.

Sending you a huge hug @HaudYerWheeshtYaWeeBellend
You’re being very brave when I’m sure you’re worried sick.

What have the doctors said about his tooth extraction last month? It seems a massive coincidence that he started to become poorly after that. I know that dental infections can lead to endocarditis. And his BP could be raised because he’s fighting an infection, I’m assuming they’ve ruled out any signs of infection but you might want to specifically ask them this question.

Wishing you and your boy all the best. x

I’m honestly shocked by how slow it’s been - and the worst timing for your DS.

I hope you’re both holding up okay.

That was my immediate thought too, along with things like b12 deficiency - these are things that are sadly too often missed (I was hypothyroid, b12 deficient (pernicious anemia) and in early stages of congestive heart failure... despite regularly seeing drs and only being 26... it took two YEARS of failing health until a random endocrinologist spotted a heart murmur and reviewed my notes and sent me for more testing).

It is standard practice to tell you that bloods are 'fine' when in fact they're showing all sorts of things that are probably nothing but miiiiight not be. Ask them to tell you the actual numbers and what the reference range is for each thing. That tends to get them looking a bit more specifically - it does broadly make sense to think 'horses' when you hear hoofbeats... but if they go too far down that road, and its really zebras, not horses...mm.

@WiddlinDiddlin how was your pernicious anaemia diagnosed please?

Honestly I don't remember @Workingfornothing - there was a lot of getting quite cross with GPs and one nearly killed me (sleeping tablets for 'panic attacks' when I was actually stopping breathing at night, near drowning in my own fluids from congestive heart failure) - following that, lots of blood tests, endocrinologists and a more 'lets treat the symptoms and see if they get better' approach rather than a 'follow the numbers' one, to avoid me making an official complaint. At the time I was very ill, physically and mentally and my focus was on not dying rather than winning a legal battle.

i also get mine from germany ! solidarity!

How’s your son today?

All ok Op?

@HaudYerWheeshtYaWeeBellend
Hi hope your son is much better and that you are both getting rest.