A&E or wait to see the Gp??

[ohnoohnoo]

Have posted a few times about this issue, I should probably change my username as my details are now probably quite outing but I've kept it the same so people can see the previous issues!

Short version of backstory is that DD (5) has been poorly every few days since Feb which was when she got admitted in to hospital with stomach pains and vomiting. Eventually needed a drip and was told it was some sort of gastroenteritis. Since then she has been on antibiotics almost constantly for different things, tonsillitis, urine infections etc. She can't seem to go more than 5ish days without coming down with something else.

Things ramped up 3 weeks ago when she got another urine infection. Temp went to the highest it had ever been (41+), got put on antibiotics and after a couple of days seemed to be getting better. However she then developed severe diarrhoea, going up to 15 times a day and it was just fluid, sometimes had blood in it. That has continued and is still going on.

Gp agreed to do a stool sample and also referred for bloods to see if there is a reason she keeps getting poorly. Stool sample has come back negative for c diff, gastroenteritis and anything else they tested for. She is booked in to the hospital for bloods tomorrow.

Here's where I'm not sure what to do. I picked her up from school yesterday and as soon as we got home she started screaming and crying saying her stomach hurt again, she was literally lying in the foetal position and said she couldn't move. Gave her some calpol and rang Gp to let them know it was happening again. They have booked us in for a face to face appt this morning. Since then she has developed a really high fever and is still crying with stomach pain.

Should I wait and take her to the Gp this morning or should I just take her up to A&E so they can see how bad she is getting and hopefully find the cause quicker? I don't want to waste anybody's time but I'm also at the end of my tether and just want somebody to help her.

I assume that nothing interesting came out of the bloods that were taken?

I'm glad to see that some progress is being made, but I wish they'd look at her overall, seeing that it's also things like UTI's, rather than just an assumption that is tonsils.

I've got some friends whose daughters had recurrent tonsillitis. It was definitely debilitating until they had them taken out.

@Somuchgoo her blood tests came back clear. He thinks that the utis are because of the constant antibiotics and he also thinks that's what is causing her stomach pains. To be honest I'm just quite pleased that we seem to have an answer and hopefully once they are removed she will be back to her normal happy self

Sounds like you're finally heading in the right direction, which is great news.

Tonsils and adenoids out were game changers for us. My DS is now 11 and had only been properly unwell once or twice since they came out when he was 4.

I think DD was about 7 when she had her tonsils out, life improved tremendously afterwards.

Congrats on finding a doctor who is actually listening to you! Hope your daughter starts to feel better soon

Gosh op, I've just read all your posts. Your poor daughter, and how stressful for you. I really hope she gets the care she needs. Please keep updating us. All the best

You will honestly have a different child, unless you have experienced the HELL of recurrent tonsillitis you have no idea how debilitating it can be (for this nothing to do with tonsils too)

I'm glad you have a GP who is looking at a root cause to help her health and not just short term fixes!

Did you look into probiotics?

I strongly suggest you eliminate sugar as much as possible and introduce fermented foods like sauerkraut and kefir. I don't want to scare you but that much use of antibiotics can cause long term gastro problems for your child. You can avoid this if you proactively work to increase her good gut bacteria. She's still young enough to hopefully undo the damage and you sound like a great mum so I know you can do it.

Not sure if anybody is still on this thread but for any that are, we saw a consultant today and he has agreed to do the referral to ENT to get her tonsils removed. He said this could be a fairly long wait though. In the meantime they have put her on a daily low dose of antibiotics for at least 6 weeks to try and help her body fight off infections

Good grief you’ve really been through it!
Hopefully the low dose daily antibiotics will be easier on her system. Poor thing 💐

So glad you’re finally getting some answers! I really feel for you, and your poor DD. Fingers crossed things improve now.

That's great news! Wishing you and your daughter a lovely healthy summer 💜

My daughter was given the low dose antibiotics for a while for her ears and it did help for quite a while.
Then she had grommets fitted which cured her instantly.
She was pushed up the list after a hospital admission so if anything reoccurs get gp to chase as urgent.

Poor little mite. I do hope she doesn’t have to wait too long. She’s really been through the mill and I bet you’re both exhausted

How's she doing @ohnoohnoo ?

Might be worth getting hold of the number for the team managing the referral and giving them a call every couple of weeks in case that have had cancelletions. Less likely with surgery but worth a go.

@thaegumathteth she's doing ok thanks. The daily antibiotics seem to be helping keep things at bay. She's been off her main (2 week) antibiotics for about a week now and although she has a cold we haven't had the usual outbreak of tonsillitis return. She has got a cold but it's only a mild one.
I spoke to the hospital yesterday and they are still waiting for the consultant to decide if it is an urgent case or not. If they decide that it is then we should have an appointment within a week, however if they decide that it isn't then we get added to the wait list that is currently 51 weeks!! Keeping everything crossed that it is classed as an urgent case because I honestly can't stand the thought of her carrying on like this for another year, not only because of how horrible she will feel but also because she's already fallen really behind at school and that will obviously only get worse!

Fingers crossed it’s seen as urgent!

Fingers toes and nose crossed!!

@ohnoohnoo how is dd doing?

@roundpegsquareholes she's had a couple of weeks of feeling better but today has woken up with tonsillitis again despite being on the long term antibiotics. Currently waiting for the Gp to give us a call

Any updates @ohnoohnoo ?

Hope dd has recovered from the latest bout and GP updated referral to reflect another infection to get it considered urgent.