Something not right with 3yr old

[BethMck]

I need some help please, my 3 year old son has had a pain in his right knee for over a month (first day 17th dec) it has been going on every day since, intermittent pain and inability to bear weight on his right leg, some days he will just have a slight limp now and again and say his knee hurts, sometimes he will ask me to pick him up because his leg hurts, gps and a&e doctors aren't concerned as he otherwise looks totally fine. Over the past 2 weeks he's complained of pain in his left leg as well as the right and twice hes said his right arm hurts too.. other symptoms diarrhoea, looking off colour and saying he's tired and needs to lie down on the sofa to rest, these symptoms come and go every couple of days, he has had a blood test that came back normal apart from low in vitamin D. I have read alot of stories from parents who said their child was completely healthy and initial blood tests were normal before other tests were done and turned out to be cancer. Obviously this is my concern and I've expressed this to doctors who dismiss me by saying he looks very healthy so I wouldn't worry about it being anything serious, he has been referred to Pediatrics 2 weeks ago but I still haven't received anything from them with regards to an appointment. Went back to the gp today to discuss the new pain in his left leg and right arm, he wasn't concerned and said to just wait for the pediatrics to get in touch he did mention juvenile arthritis as a possibilty. Everyone around me is telling me I'm just worrying about nothing and the doctors are making me feel like I'm being stupid. I really want all the tests possible to rule out cancer. But I'm being told if doctors were concerned they would be rushing him through for tests. My issue is I had a cousin who was told her symptoms were likely nothing serious and for months she was denied tests, when she finally had tests done she was diagnosed with cancer, due to the delay in diagnosis she sadly lost her battle a year later and passed away at just 22 years old. AIBU in thinking I am being fobbed off and do you think my anxiety is taking over? Should I trust the doctors and wait for the pediatrician to contact me or should I keep pushing for tests? I feel like I'm going crazy, is this an actual parental gut feeling or am I looking into this too much and getting paranoid??
So sorry for the long post. Please help a mama out xx

Brilliant news @BethMck. I think everyone following the thread will be relieved. Well done for going with your mum's instinct and ignoring the GP. Your son is lucky to have you advocating for him. He'll get followed up now hopefully as well so if you still have any concerns you can bypass the GP and speak to paediatrician. Take care and make a bit of time for you to decompress, this will have taken its toll on you.

Wonderful news. Thank God🙏

Fantastic news!!

Just need to hope the antibiotics reduce the inflammatory markers, I'm still a little nervous incase the antibiotics dont work but I'm feeling much better now that things are moving along and getting ruled out, the lady we saw today was absolutely lovely and he will get a follow up with her even if he is better, in 3 months time. I feel completely drained after the last 2 months but I'm so glad I kept pushing for my boy, after the cbc was normal I was surprised the infection markers are pretty high, and all the times I've seen a Dr that said if he had an infection he would have a raised temperature! Well he does have some kind of infection just unsure which one ATM

Well done OP, I’m so glad you’ve finally been listened to and are hopefully on the first step to recovery for your little one.

They didn't half send me the long way around! I'm just glad we are getting somewhere now, if the antibiotics work then I will be happy, another 2 weeks of waiting to see if they settle his symptoms, she suspects strep that was missed but I'm unsure because he hasn't complained of a sore throat and doctors have looked at his throat a few times.. but we're on the right path to getting a proper answer, finally

So glad you're getting proper care and follow up for him now. And it sounds like you have her secretary's number too, just in case anything happens in the meantime or he gets worse rather than better. Hugs to your little boy x

She called me on her own office number, I'm unsure if I'm able to call her if I have any worries though, she just gave me the number to call her back to discuss his results! Although one thing I found odd, she never mentioned a follow up for the ESR and CRP tests to check if the antibiotics work, do you think I should ask for this to make sure his markers have gone back down? Because if they are still raised after 2 weeks of antibiotics other tests would need to be done surely? Although I am hoping his symptoms disappear once the antibiotics kick in!

Glad things are going in the right direction OP. Just wanted to say are you sure she said strep and not a staph infection? That would be common with bone issues and would fit with his symptoms.

Yes she said Strep A which would have gone untreated and may have caused rheumatic fever, she said this can cause all kinds of strange rashes and joint pain, he's having an ultrasound to check for fluid around the knee too, I'm just hoping the symptoms will stop once the antibiotics kick in but I thought they would want to check the infection markers have gone back to normal afterwards

My DC had very similar minus the knee. Not rigjt for months, very tired, off his food, upset tummy on and off. No evidence of a sore throat, ear infection or chest infection. Running low grade temperatures every few days.

Eventually a doctor prescribed a course of antibiotics to see if they would help and he was back to normal within four days of starting them. Conclusion was he'd had some sort of bacterial infection he couldn't quite shift on his own. Still have no idea what it was, but that was three months ago and he's been right as rain since except for the usual minor coughs and colds.

I really hope it will be the same for your son.

@BethMck so glad your son is on the recovery path. Please look after yourself now.

I'm not a doctor, but I think if the child keeps having this symptom continuously, it is necessary to rule out other possible cancerous factors. You did nothing wrong. Maybe you can try to go to other hospitals.

Maybe you can read all of the OP's posts?

This is what she is thinking is happening with my son, it does make sense and I can't wait to get the antibiotics in him now and hopefully get him back to normal, and get this ultrasound out of the way. It's been a long couple of months

I really hope things improve quickly for him . It's been such a worry for you.

I think the antibiotics will sort him out and I can relax bless him! Every Dr I've seen put it down to viral and never mentioned bacterial infection! I'm just glad he's getting sorted 😊

You could always just phone and ask if there will be a follow up blood test to make sure everything has gone back to normal after he’s finished the antibiotics. I imagine they would do this anyway but there’s no harm in giving them a quick kick up the bum ring, maybe in a week or so if you haven’t heard anything?

I feel like I'm being daft now that there is a possible explanation for all his random symptoms but I know that every time I mention the C word to them they brush it off and almost laugh at me, I know that inflammotary markers can be raised due to some cancers too which is why I feel like I need to know they have gone down once the antibiotics are done, then I will be satisfied, because if they are still raised then they would need to look at cancer as a possibilty! I'm hopeful they will do the trick though and get him back to normal, suppose I will see how he's getting on after his course! (Limping, swollen lymph nodes, a cold for over a month that won't go away, rashes on the body and raised inflammotary markers can all be signs of cancer) I do think having young people in my family with cancers has made me a little paranoid but you just can never be too careful! Fingers crossed I'll be telling you all soon that he's back to normal and it was just a bacterial infection!

How's he doing @BethMck ? I hope the antibiotics have kicked in.

Not great, there was a delay in getting the antibiotics and now I have them he's supposed to be on the 4th day but he just will not take them, I've mixed it with milk, juice, yogurt, ice cream and he just spits it out, I'm going to the pharmacy tomorrow to see if they can be changed! He needs them in his body he is still full of a cold, (almost 6 weeks now) he's had really dark runny poo's today and started getting really green mucus in it too (sorry for tmi) but I'm really worried that if it is a bacterial infection then it's working it's way round his body! Still haven't heard anything about his ultrasound to check for fluid round his knee joint, she said that should take 2-4 weeks!

You have the right to ask for a second opinion if you want to.

She said that 2 of his infection/inflammatory markers were raised, one being his ESR which she said indicates an infection that has been there for a while.. she has gone with a bacterial infection that she thinks was caused by Strep A (she hasnt swabbed him).. and said to try a 2 week course of antibiotics, I just really need these antibiotics changing and getting into his system to see if it will relieve his symptoms. I'm so worried about him but none of the doctors seem concerned because he doesn't have a high temperature.. seems they just want to wait until things get very bad, untreated bacterial infections can be dangerous and if that's been the cause from the start, he's been having weird symptoms since 17th December, cold/snotty, rashes, knee pain, his breathing sounds terrible but she said the noise is at the top of his chest so not on his lungs, now the strange poo.. things just aren't moving fast enough but unless you're practically dead they don't like to rush appointments and investigations!

You may need to bribe him for the antibiotics and use a syringe...

That or antibiotics in quickly followed by a lolly.

I've tried that too, he has had a couple of doses that he eventually swallowed but most of the time he just refuses or spits it out, I'm going to see if they can change it because the taste is so strong, then just hope they kick in quickly and make him better I feel so bad for him