6 year old had barium swallow now I'm absolutely cacking it help please.

[overmyhead]

Went to a private gastro paediatrician because of my ds's tummy pain and occasional vomiting. I thought we'd talk about food intolerances or something but he ordered an abdominal x ray straight away, which I wasn't happy about but went along with it, and then he rang and said my ds urgently needed a barium swallow the next day as he suspected a malrotation in the gut. I immediately wanted a 2nd opinion, but short of going to A&E, didn't seem to have much time to lose, so against my better judgement went along with it. It was inconclusive, when it should have been conclusive, and now it seems he has to have a laparoscopy.

I have convinced myself my son is going to get leukemia from this barium swallow and two abdominal x rays. I am absolutely beside myself with worry about it. I am so angry with myself for going private and not going to the NHS.

I don't really know if anyone can help, but I am absolutely miserable with worry about leukemia. Don't know what to do.

bump

im pretty sure 2 xrays is not going to give your child leukemia. They Xray children often and they are safe.
Leukemia involves changes in genes, and i dont think 2 xrays is enough to do this.
The doctor is being though, which I would want if i was paying for it.

the barium swallow much higher dose of x rays though. Honestly I've been in tears most of Christmas [when the children can't see] just thinking about the risk. Don't know quite what to do.

My DS had a barium swallow which showed reflux. The treatment he has had as a result has made him a far healthier and I am so glad it was done. Our private paediatrician ordered loads of tests and at the time I worried about it but I am really glad he was thorough as he was so ill and is only better because of these tests. Don't worry about leukaemia. I am sure that a few X-rays make no real difference.

Should also say that they balance the risk. The risk to DS of one barium swallow is much lower than getting pneumonia over and over every few months.

Oh god I can't even spell leukaemia.
I'm glad your ds is better now purple. I guess if the results were clear I'd feel happier. But I am so distressed about the x ray dose I just feel so much panic.

Overmy head, please try not to worry and be so hard on yourself. If a dr reccommends a test then I think it is generally sensible to go along with it.

My DM (who is wonderful in most ways) still makes me feel guilty 2 years on for letting ds2 have a lumbar puncture, and bowel biopsy when dr's thought he was very ill. Her reasoning being the results were negative so he didn't need to have them. I do try to point out that if the results had been positive she would not have been saying that. At the time I was terrified about him having these invasive tests done, but at the time they seemed the best option as the alternatives seemed worse.

Can I ask how old your son is? My son has bowel and stomach problems which atm we don't have a definate diagnosis for. We read an article recently about malrotated gut, many of the symptoms ds2 does have, but my DF reckons that it can't be that as if it was it would have been picked up by now (ds2 is 2).

Good Luck with resolving your ds's health problems. Hope you get some answers soon, but please stop feeling bad about your decisions, you are doing what you think is best for your dc based on the reccommendations of a dr.

overmyhead - I hesitate to say this...it seems blunt but tummy ache and vomiting is classic in an anxious child and you seem a very anxious mum?

You've taken your child to private Dr because you are anxious

You're now anxious about the treatment they are offering but tbh as another poster has said private usually do order more tests? it's sort of expected?

I suspect reducing your anxiety could be helpful to your child because they really do pick up on these things no matter how you 'hide it'

My son is 6 tutu. You could ask for a referral to an NHS gastro paediatrician perhaps. Apparently rarely it can go unnoticed.

I don't know what to think I really don't. I just wish we'd got a second opinion. I'm just thinking of all that radiation going to his bone marrow. Not sure if I'm being rational or not really.

sorry Op but i don't get why you think the results should have been conclusive. a barium swallow does not detect all problems so inconclusive simply means teh problem wasn't something taht the swallow could show up.

Well apparently for malrotation it should be conclusive. we went to the NHS after having all this done and the consultant wanted to do another barium swallow as he said the first had not been done properly.

It natural that you are worried about your Ds. However the doctors know what they are doing. Fwiw Ds is 12 he has had
a barium swallow aged 3
a barium follow through aged 4
x rays too numerous to remember since birth
Numerous ct scans also since birth
2 mri scans
and he hasn't contracted leukemia from them.

I don't understand why you are angry with yourself from going to a private doctor as it is likely that an nhs doctor would havedone the same tests but with a longer waiting time.
It can feel really horrible when your child's to have unpleasant and invasive procedures (believe me i know from experience) but try to hold on to the thought that it is all done to help your Ds get better.

Without any knowledge of medical conditions, I would say from reading your posts that you have to calm down and stop panicking.

No doctor, regardless of NHS or private practice, would knowingly put a child at risk of a serious disease such as leukemia if he did not feel that the tests were necessary. Particularly a gastro paediatrician who sees similar cases regularly and knows what he is looking for.

Are you generally an anxious person? Would it help if you talked to the paediatrician about your fears?

To be blunt (in the hope of helping you OP) if your DS did develop Leukaemia because of this one medically approved diagnostic measure, then you are not achieving much spending this time sobbing secretly and being miserable rather than enjoying him are you? You're not going to change anything, just regret the way you are fretting this time away - Leukaemia or no Leukaemia

overmyhead - a barium swallow and a couple of x-rays WILL NOT do your ds any harm.

dd has had more x rays than I can remember (at least 25 probably more), several CT scans, an MRI, loads of ultrasounds; she's fine.

Try not to worry.

but all it tells you is that it may not be malrotation. teh doc didn't say it definitely was malrotation, he couldn't have known for sure so teh barium was investigative not a yes or no answer.

6 is very late to display symptoms of malrotation BTW.

Thankyou saggars and starfish for those experiences - i guess it is experiences like those that I really need to hear.

I have spent a bit of time looking a scientific research on the internet which has not exactly been reassuring.

MmeL - I am indeed an anxious person. With a phobia of hospitals stemming from much time spent in them [and x rays] as a child. I don't want my son to go through that.

hobgoblin I know you are right but I am finding it hard to get a handle on my fears at present.

Is it isn't saggars? that is why I am rather annoyed the private doctor laid it on very thick as to him needing the barium swallow.

There is some good advice on here, you can't control everything about your children's life, all we can do is make the best decision for them each day based on the information we have to hand. Some times we will find out we have made the wrong choice, other times we will find out we made the right ones.

Everyday we have with out kids is a gift, enjoy it and make the most of it, in comparison to the lives of many children worldwide, the majority of our kids are very well off.

Having seen 2 friends of my dd in hospital over Christmas, I understand the need to make the most of each day more than I ever did. The most wonderful thing was the fact that the parents of these kids were also making the best of things too

sorry, long post - in a nutshell, relax and enjoy being a mother!

Thanks overmyhead. We are going back to see ds2's gastro consultant next month. Ds2 is doing much better than he was so his consultant is just doing regular reviews as he says whilst ds2 remains as he is he doesn't want to do anymore invasive procedures unless he has to. He agrees that ds2 has problems which he can not explain, but apparently this is quite common in children he sees so he is waiting to see if things improve as ds2 grows.

We are going to ask about malrotation though.

I understand what you are saying Victoria but I am actually pretty good at behaving normally around my kids and don't usually get really over anxious.

And ds vomited in his sleep a couple of times so I didn't think it was connected to anxiety. But perhaps it is. Perhaps I shouldn't have taken him to the doctor, I usually try to leave things, but both dh and I though the vomiting in his sleep was strange.

I think that not doing invasive procedures if you can help it is a good thing tutu - good luck.

And I wasn't aware that going private means more tests - perhaps I am now.