To think I'm right and the doctors are wrong?

[Rabbitpoop]

DD is 13yo and has had really bad nausea and stomach ache for 10 days. Shes been off school the whole time and very little appetite. GP thought it was appendix related so sent us to hospital. First surgeon admitted us and said seems like appendix as she only has pain in the exact area of the appendix. Put us on the list for surgery.

Saw another surgeon who said he wanted an ultrasound first. Fair enough. They couldn't see her appendix during the scan but no obvious signs of anything else wrong so surgeon passed us to paeds.

Paediatrician came in and said it is constipation before he even examined her. She isn't constipated at all and the pain is only on the bottom right side in a specific area. I questioned him and pushed back quite a lot as I'm 100% sure this is not constipation. She's had no change in her bowel movements. Paeds said there's no sign of appendicitis in her blood tests so it's unlikely to be appendicitis.

I looked up the NICE guidelines and it says that you can't rule out appendicitis by blood test or ultrasound and that it can present differently in different people. It seems the only real way of telling is laparoscopy/surgery but the surgeons won't do it as she's not writhing in pain.

I don't know what to do. I'm sure it's not constipation and that it's something to do with her appendix. They said they wouldn't give antibiotics either as there's no sign of infection.

I'm worried they're just going to tell us to go home and she'll continue to be off school, feeling sick, barely eating and with a stomach ache.

Any advice?

Well done for sticking to your guns, but really you simply should not have to.

I am glad it’s sorted, a,d well done to keep pushing

There are some good doctors out there, and some who are not (@olympicsrock looking at you and your comment, something for you to learn? Listen to the patient )

Personally once it’s all calmed down I would be writing to the hospital to explain what’s happened and ask them to use this as a learning case for the doctors

Well done, really hope she recovers soon. There was some terrible arrogance on this thread & general "a medical profession always knows best" attitudes. The people who gave those opinions should take a long hard look at themselves, and remember there is a lot of truth in the old saying about the difference between a surgeon and God is that God doesn't think he's a surgeon. Drs are people, some are amazing, others need to learn to listen and not jump to conclusions.

I was so glad to hear the outcome was the right one and that she is now on way to recovery. Always trust your mum feelings and well done for sticking it out and advocating for your child. We spend too much time trying not to look like a pain in the arse and it sometimes back fires.

Wishing her a speedy recovery

Well done OP, you did good there, wishing your DD a speedy recovery.

Am so glad it was inflamed because the same happened to my son and it dragged on for 3 months. Hopefully your darling girl will be feeling so much better over the next few weeks.
Well done Mum💐💐💐💐

@Schmz…will hopefully come back and offer an apology!! Well done you ad hope daughter better very soon! 💐

Wishing your daughter a speedy recovery. Well done for being such a good advocate for her.

Well done mum for being such a strong advocate for her. I know she'll have learned too about fighting to be heard.
Glad the surgery is over and she's on the mend.

Pleased for you OP. What shocking treatment though. You have been failed badly.

She is very lucky to have you. I am glad it worked out well but so sorry you both had to go through such an ordeal to get there.

Well done on trusting your instincts. Let’s hope they learn from this. My DD’s scar healed very quickly without any further treatment and no follow ups. That was 17 years ago!

Thank you for all the well wishes. She's so much better this morning. Says its such a relief not to feel sick or be in pain any more and is talking excitedly about what she wants me to go and buy her for breakfast 😊 She hasn't had any painkillers since last night but doesn't seem to be in any pain, at least when lying still.

I actually managed some sleep as well last night so am feeling better myself. Hopefully should be going home after lunch today they said.

Not being in pain when lying still is why she needs to take pain relief as she needs to be able to move, it’s really important. Not only because she may get some gas pain in her shoulders which needs to move but also she can get constipated and she needs her gut to get going. So make sure she takes regular pain relief and gets up and out of bed. Start with sitting up, out in a chair and walking to the toilet. If it hurts to cough because of her wound then she can gently place a pillow over it and use it as a guard to cough.

Lots of patients tell us they’re fine when they’re lying in bed but actually they don’t want to get up because it hurts. Pain relief is an important part of recovery as is mobilising. I hope she’s ok and you did the right thing. So glad she feels better.

It's a clinical diagnosis. If worse then definitely go back

Great to hear your DD is doing well and you got some sleep. Take it easy!

Pleased your dd is feeling better and you have been vindicated. I can't help wondering how much hospital time and money was wasted by their indecision. There is often zero regard for the patient and carers in these circumstances. I hope you do complain constructively. The NHS is in the mess it is because we have all be trained to be grateful for generations.

It is funded by the people.for the people and gratefulness has led to sub optimal care and general standards which are long overdue for challenge.

Good news that your daughter us well on the mend.
Best wishes to you both x

@Rabbitpoop

Thank you for all the well wishes. She's so much better this morning. Says its such a relief not to feel sick or be in pain any more and is talking excitedly about what she wants me to go and buy her for breakfast 😊 She hasn't had any painkillers since last night but doesn't seem to be in any pain, at least when lying still.

I actually managed some sleep as well last night so am feeling better myself. Hopefully should be going home after lunch today they said.

Such a great update, the poor girl has had such a horrible time, she deserves a bit of spoiling now. And so do you.

Well done for keeping on fighting when you weren't being listened to. Glad to hear you got some rest too.

I hope that both of you can relax at home for a bit in the coming days.

So glad your daughter was finally listened to by a professional who actually knew how to do their job. You have had a truly awful experience.

Never let anyone say you don't know your daughter - Instinct is very powerful. Best wishes to your girl for a speedy recovery.

I shared my concerns about what happened with the surgeon this morning and he said that I had "misunderstood" that we were coming in for surgery and that it is normal practice to get outpatients to wait in A&E. I said I was concerned that we'd been told to go home twice without being seen by a doctor and he said the doctors had reviewed the bloods and they were fine so the nurses had done the right thing telling us to go home. He said he had only decided to go ahead with the surgery because we'd come in twice (which doesn't make any sense, we came in once and were told to go home and then come back) and that it is very unusual to have a case of appendicitis where the bloods are normal. Otherwise they would be doing surgery on every child who has stomach ache.

I am in no way convinced by this and its a slight twisting of what happened. It makes me feel there's no point complaining though as the surgeon seemed sure all the right things had been done and processes followed, we were just an atypical case.

I still feel that listening to the patient/parent should be more of a priority and the way we were treated was very bad. Particularly DD being left nil by mouth for so long and the decision that it was constipation without even examining her or listening to her history.

Thankfully it has all ended well but it definitely makes me feel extremely wary of being in a similar position again with my or my family's health.

You may want to get in touch with PALS, OP. They will be able to advise you and perhaps help the hospital look at its procedures/communications. It certainly sounds like something somewhere went awry.

You have this thread as a record of everything that happened, in order, too.

You have certainly earned mother points with this one @Rabbitpoop.

I’m sure it’s emotional, but bloody well done

@Rabbitpoop

I shared my concerns about what happened with the surgeon this morning and he said that I had "misunderstood" that we were coming in for surgery and that it is normal practice to get outpatients to wait in A&E. I said I was concerned that we'd been told to go home twice without being seen by a doctor and he said the doctors had reviewed the bloods and they were fine so the nurses had done the right thing telling us to go home. He said he had only decided to go ahead with the surgery because we'd come in twice (which doesn't make any sense, we came in once and were told to go home and then come back) and that it is very unusual to have a case of appendicitis where the bloods are normal. Otherwise they would be doing surgery on every child who has stomach ache.

I am in no way convinced by this and its a slight twisting of what happened. It makes me feel there's no point complaining though as the surgeon seemed sure all the right things had been done and processes followed, we were just an atypical case.

I still feel that listening to the patient/parent should be more of a priority and the way we were treated was very bad. Particularly DD being left nil by mouth for so long and the decision that it was constipation without even examining her or listening to her history.

Thankfully it has all ended well but it definitely makes me feel extremely wary of being in a similar position again with my or my family's health.

Standard response. They cover each others arses in these situations.

No way was he going to say "yeah my colleague totally messed up telling you that, he's a bit of an idiot and I'm keeping an eye on him".

If you have the energy it would be good to contact Pals. And to know what that Dr wrote in the notes.