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 hope they get to the bottom of this, my son had a medical emergency two years ago and was in critical care for three weeks
It was an extremely worrying time and I remember how scared I was, the staff were great and kept reminding me he was in the best place
He was 16 so a similar age fingers crossed you get answers and any treatment plan soon.

Thank you they said its curable but just a shock

So sorry to hear that you are having a hard time just now, and wishing your son a speedy recovery.

Another nurse has come in, they are trying to get him a side room as he needs closely monitoring, said he will be in all weekend.

Dh has went home to pack us more clothes and toiletries for a longer stay.

I’ve had a quick google , he has his Math GCSE on Monday, all it says is to advise his teachers asap.

Is there anything else we need to do? - he needs his math grade for his apprenticeship, so I’m not sure how this work?

Email the school with the details of what's happened and ask them to forward to the Exams officer. I'd also ring the exams officer in person on Monday. As he's done GCSE Maths paper 1, the exam board should be able to give him a grade based on the paper he's done plus mock grade.
I hope your son gets some answers and recovers ASAP

It sounds like they are doing a similar rule things out/in series to dd - she had all of those tests. The eye scan was because high bp can damage the blood vessels in the eyes.

She also had a specialist ultrasound of her kidney arteries, a number of ecgs, an echo, a 24 hour urine collection, and various bloods. This was in March/April - still waiting for three results (two blood, and the 24 hour urine) as they went to three different specialist centres and can take a few months to come back.

Message me if you wish, it's a scary time. It was reassuring just how thorough they were.

If he is up to it, would the hospital school run the exam for him?
Ask the staff about parents rooms and laundry facilities. Children's hospitals have long stay patient and parents and often have facilities which no one knows about usually.

Not sure if this the same exam board as you son’s school uses, but basically they’ll probably be able to give him a mark based on coursework or mock exams. I’d email the school now, and call them on Monday morning to tell them what’s going on. www.aqa.org.uk/exams-administration/special-requirements/special-consideration

Definitely let his teacher know asap or his exams officer direct if you have their details.

There are contingencies for this sort of thing and they will be able to consider it. I am an invigilator and I have heard of exams being invigilated in a hospital before, but that was for a student who was stuck there for some time, which may not be the case. The point is that the exams officer will know what options there are.

Short story- don't worry about the exam - there will be contingencies and you will be told what they are in due course and hopefully can work with the school to work out the most suitable.

Contact your school. If you know who the exams officer is email them if not email the head of year and his tutor.

As he has done 1 paper he will be eligible for a grade. They Look at where he sits in that paper grade boundary wise and give him the same for the 2nd paper.

it is fairly common so schools know how to deal with this. Though not necessarily this exact situation.

Even if he is able to sit the exam, you’ll be able to ask for special consideration and they might amend his mark based on the fact his weekend has been very stressful and unpredictable due to serious illness.

I’d email the school and copy a couple of people in like his head of year, tutor, maths teacher etc. Chances are that someone will see it before Monday morning and get back to you.

Contact the exam officer straight away - how many exams has he completed so far.

get together as much medical evidence as you can - this should given the circumstances be fairly straightforward but in order to get a grade there is minimum completion requirement

I assume he is igcse Pearson given the exam is on Monday so I assume he has managed so far to do one paper in all his subjects?

so let exam officer at the school know and as much medical evidence as you can. If he has completed one exam in each they should be able to take a grade from that.

if it is Pearson they end dont they on Friday so he probably won’t manage anymore

I would also ask not only if they can take it based on the papers he has already done but special consideration due to illness for them (so an increase of 2%)

There will be contingencies in place for this sort of unexpected emergency re his match’s gcse . What an awful terrifying time for any parent, and I wish your son all the best. Hope he continues to improve over the weekend and you also manage a little bit of rest too.

I’m sure if need be he could start his apprenticeship and take his maths GCSE whilst doing the apprenticeship under the circumstances. But it sounds like that hopefully won’t be necessary.
All the best. We’ve been transferred to Newcastle hospital with ill kids and had the best treatment and care.

Couldn't pass by without sending you best wishes, will keep everything crossed for you

Great advice, I’d do the same. Email today to school and a phone call in the Monday morning,

try not to worry about exams, it will all fall into place as being in hospital can’t be helped.

I just wanted to say, I am thinking of you and your boy. ❤️

Hope you get some answers soon OP. What a worry it must be.

we both work in apprenticeships, the provider will absolutely be able to put him on a course, and claim extra funding for it too. Best of luck to you and your son OP. School will most likely give him a teacher assessed grade anyway, these things happen. So pls don’t worry about that.

My eldest ended up in hospital during his GCSEs and missed a weeks worth of exams. My mum went up to school the morning after he was admitted, spoke to his head of year and the exams officer. My mid morning they had called me to say they had spoken to the exam board and things had been put into place. As my son had taken the first paper of each exam they averaged out his grade of the missed papers, going on his age, score from paper one etc. He made it back in for the last week of them. He still did really well in his especially given he was so poorly before and during the first week of exams.

My son was in year 11 when he was in critical care, but it was the February so he didn't actually miss the exams, his school applied for consideration, as he missed a full half term of school
My son was left with ongoing health issues and missed one paper of of one of his exams, from my understanding, the exam board in these circumstances can give a grade based on the papers Sat.
So let school know ASAP and yes GCSE are important ,but it's not the most important thing here.

Maths is Wednesday.
Get in touch with the exams officer at school and copy in Head of Year.

Another rugby mum sending love.

Typical that he gets admitted at the weekend and his exam is on the Monday. How much less stressful it would be if the exam was on Wednesday and you had time to get organised.

I hope you find out what you're dealing with soon and it's easily managed

My DS had a fall a year ago, broken leg and brain injury. Those days sitting at his bedside are indescribable.

I’m here to hold your hand, you’re not alone.