GP won’t see 4yo for 2 weeks [Title edit by MNHQ - Please read beyond the OP before responding]

[trombolese]

Hi, just need to get an opinion on what people would do in my situation.

Some background on my 4yo - severe silent reflux from birth which meant awful awful sleep and feeding. This went undiagnosed for 7 months which then led mega tonsil problems, golf ball size which then caused severe obstructive sleep apnea. Tonsils out at 2.5. Grew back 5 months later to full size, if not bigger (didn’t think possible, consultant at Evelina said she’d never seen it happen that quickly) - constantly infected, had them out again at 3.5. Never weaned properly due to feeding issues, always bad with food. Quality of life crap due to tonsil problems. Since having them out it has only very mildly improved to be honest. He has also suffered with constipation the past year due to poor diet.

Since beginning of October he has had a fever at least once a week, sometimes explained, sometimes completely unexplained. The longest he has had fever for is 8 days with no other symptoms. GP not interested and said these things happen (we have 2 other kids…it doesn’t happen). So many lots of antibiotics, a couple of long lasting chest infections and since November an ear ache that hasn’t gone and he is still suffering with today. Yesterday he spiked another fever of 39, no other symptoms but sent home from nursery. He barely eats a thing, some days he will only eat 2 squares of toast. The rest of the day he drinks like a fish, just water other than 1 x cup of milk before bed and sometimes 1 x in the morning. He’s lost about 3kg so far. He’s so so unbelievably pale, puffy eyes and big bags under his eyes too. He’s recently taken to crying a lot. A lot, a lot. Over things very trivial to the average person but these crying episodes can last up to an hour. He’s extremely irritable and sad. He seemingly can’t walk longer than about 15 minutes without complaining his legs are hurting loads (to the point where he will just crawl along the floor instead if we let him!) and more recently he is waking in the night complaining of itching. His tiredness and lethargy some days is another level.

Seeing as this is his 10th fever in as many weeks (I am keeping a diary now) I contacted the GP with a massive list of his symptoms as I am now actually really concerned. They can’t see him for 2 weeks and have told me to “contact the HV” for advice in the meantime. What advice can they possibly give?! I am really concerned he is lacking something important in his diet or god forbid, something even worse.

AIBU to call 111? Do I take him to a&e?! This just seems crazy now. He has missed so much nursery and it just breaks my heart that his QOL is so shit.

Thinking of you OP.

Yes, I was talking generally.

I was talking generally. I thought that was clear. I would advise you to maybe less sneery when I was a genuine question coming from trying not to add to upset.

Maybe don’t try and suggest worst case scenarios to a mum with a poorly child. Ffs it’s not entertainment to speculate over.

Thank You this is the last thing this mum needs. It's like when you tell people you are pregnant and they start telling you a bunch of horror stories.

Which is why I asked as it is so far from what I meant. I know it's not fucking entertainment. But I've been on here long enough to know that people read and don't understand what is being said and just jump on one.

This.

Read the room. It's not the time or place to be saying 'I had this when I had X' there is a poor mother worried sick about her child on the other side of this thread.

I hope for all you spectators she doesn't come back and see all of this, or to anyone 'itching to know what's wrong' with the little boy, just pass your well wishes on and forget about the thread.

Speculating about a sick young boy is so crass.

And fyi other posters actually said I think it is X. I merely asked best course of action.

In the UK there are 17.3 million people under 25, and each year 3755 get diagnosed with cancer. That's a rate of 0.02%. Most GPs will never see a child with cancer, and even if they do, they won't see a child with the same cancer. A lot of cancer symptoms are vague and could be viral, 'growing pains', or indicate a minor ailment. Most parents of children with cancers don't pinpoint classic symptoms. They have a growing, nagging, sense that 'something isn't right' and, as you will know, it takes an expert to sift through the 'teething last week', 'cold virus a few days ago', etc., to see the common thread.

I think it's grossly unfair to make such comments about a health professional who has less than 10 minutes to go through everything a parent says, filter it, weigh it up, and decide whether to add to the overloaded hospital system.

I know a child who had nagging arm pain for around a year. It was vague, it came and went, the child was young and it was unclear how bad it was. Finally, when the child was screaming in pain at night, they were sent to hospital and diagnosed with a very rare cancer.

The GP can learn that if a parent is worried, they should be worried, but it's not fair to compare a specialist diagnostician with all the tools at their disposal, with a GP who has a computer, a urine dipstick and a blood pressure monitor.

... And I answered your question, so I'm not sure what you took offence about.

But anyway, let's not thread jack.

Sorry your little one is poorly OP, sending lots of love and thank goodness for mum’s instincts x

Lougle exactly this.

A and E asap
I went through similar problems with my son. Turned out he had a serious medical issue. Gp kept fobbing me off

STOP
Just stop.

Do you have doctor on call with your life or health insurance policy? That usually covers the whole family and is a godsend in times like this. Usually you can have a GP on video call within a few hours.

PLEASE READ OP'S POSTS

Is it possible there might be an allergy? My LG has dairy and soya allergy. She was a very needy baby, always crying feeding was always an issue. What's his poos like? Few things that made me think this- puffy eyes, the itching the fussiness as a baby feeding problems and also irritability. It might be something to investigate as some allergies can cause fever and sometimes longer it's left the worse it gets.
As others have suggested take him to a&e, can't imagine how hard it is watching ur child in pain constantly. I found it so hard when my LG was baby and allergies weren't under control she would rive in pain and as much as I tried to comfort her there wasnt much else I could do for her

Please read ALL of OP's posts

Thinking of you and your dear son! Hope he is getting all the care he needs to make him well. So pleased you went to A&E! 🌸

Hi everyone,

We have seen references to inappropriate posts being made here, please could they be reported to us?

I am a paediatric nurse, and all of this sounds very chronic . Unfortunately the way our NHS is set up we manage ongoing chronic (undiagnosed) conditions very poorly. I would suggest you get advice from a private paediatric ENT specialist. It sounds like he now had food aversions along with a other things - temperatures do just occur on kids that is actually true, but in this case with the history I'd be concerned about an underlying dormant infection somewhere within his ENT system... Would explain ears ( it's all connected).

You COULD take him the A&E and simply refuse to leave without having been seen by a paediatric consultant.. they will still need to refer you to the ENT team , for me the weight loss would be the part which should hopefully fast track you but if it were me I would seek private medical care.

Wishing you well OP no need to update us if you don't feel up to it. xx

I think it's more that people haven't read all the OP's updates and keep suggesting all manner of potential causes when OP is already in hospital with a sick child and likely already knows what the cause is so wild speculation is not helpful for anyone at all.

Please read all the OP’s posts. This distasteful speculation about the child’s condition is horrible when she has already had a diagnosis of a serious illness for him. Even if you are a nurse.

Could you put a note at the top of the thread to point the lazy people to the OP’s update. And also maybe ask the ghouls to stop asking for an update?