DS A&E am I being mad

[Cbd333]

My DD aged 3 woke up at 11pm last night screaming in pain because her leg hurt - specifically her
Shin bone. She has had a few infections recently and a persistent low-grade fever for a couple of weeks despite currently being on amoxicillin.

I googled thinking it's probably growing pains and wanted to see what I could do to help her but lots of the results came up with leukaemia. My mum and nana both died from leukaemia so I'm extremely sensitive about it but still I wonder if I'm being mad as I'm currently sitting in A&E as want her to have a blood test. For context, the leukaemia mum and nana had was extremely aggressive so their treatment began each time within an hour of diagnosis.

I don't want to me the mad mum hauling ds in to hospital when she should
Be swimming and enjoying her weekend but I'm terrified. Please help me.

[rrhuth]

Don't take it to heart, the doctor may for all you know have serious stress or depression, or he may just be a moody arse.

[Dontgetyerknicksinatwist]

OP can you maybe call 111 and see if you can speak to an out of hours GP? You must be beside yourself with worry and I’m not surprised. It’s such a shame that this has happened over the weekend. I hope you get to see a more helpful doctor soon

[TrueGrit54]

Sorry the doctor was rude, I feel bad for you. Don’t be put off, if your gut is there is something wrong get some tests done. Parents fight for their children.

[isadoradancing123]

I would have called his bluff and said yes i want the blood test

[Embroidery]

I used to have terrible shin pains as a child. They started young as I called them 'leggy pains.' 3 to 17 years of age. I cried hours of wet tears of pain every time.
My lovely mum took me to gp a few times but it was just growing pains. There was a thread on here a few years back about growing pains. They do very much exist.
Calpol helped a bit. Firm massage of shins helped more.

[Floralnomad]

Fwiw , I wouldn’t have gone to A&E in the first place but I would have had the bloods done having sat there all day , if only to put your mind at rest .

[2319inprogress]

Cbd333 I'm so sorry the doctor made you feel bad remember it was 911 who sent you, you did the right thing.
GP first thing, trust yourself.

[stayathomer]

It's completely inappropriate to take her to A&E. No wonder the NHS is on its knees.
People should never be afraid to go to the hospital. Very few people would choose to sit and wait in a hospital unless there was an issue and it's people thinking they're bothering the system that leads to tragedy.

[Cbd333]

Just to clarify he wasn't offering the bloods today, he said dd wasn't an emergency so he would email the GP to do some routine bloods if I wanted him to. I have said yes to that.

[Puppermam]

Even fat people and smokers are entitled to use the NHS if they need it.

You did nothing wrong op. The doctor was an arse. When i took my baby in with symptoms that could have been meningitis, (limp, lethargic, blotched skin, avoiding the light) and it turned out to be a cold, the staff were lovely. They said they would rather see 10 children who didn't need to be there, than to not see the one who did need to be there.

[Flowersintheattic2021]

What was her temperature

[Daisydoor12]

Don’t feel bad. Past experience my ds was 4months old. Unwell with what seemed to be a cold. GP saw him on the Wednesday all ok. Thursday night he woke up coughing, temp, sick. Went to A&E. doctor we eventually saw was very offish basically saying I was over reacting. I said I wasn’t happy with his chest. Dr insisted it was upper airways and said they could do an x-ray of the chest but did I know how bad it is for babies/children to have them. I agreed to the risk of X-ray and it was done. Well after results were back never saw drs move so fast! He had left side pneumonia shown on the x-ray. Intravenous antibiotics given, put on oxygen transferred to a side room and monitored closely. Dread to think what the outcome would have been if I’d not gone A&E and insisted on x-ray.

[Cbd333]

@Flowersintheattic2021 it's been sitting around 38 - sometimes a bit higher sometimes a bit less. She has fevers of 40 with tonsillitis so the temperature in itself wouldn't be worrying me

[MobyDicksTinyCanoe]

There was a mumsnetter on here a few years ago who's dd had a rash.

The sort most parents would ignore. But they didnt. She ended up being diagnosed with leukemia.

A child waking up in screaming agony needs seeing pretty urgently, especially as she's been ill for a while and things aren't improving.

[Tilltheend99]

Sometimes it’s better not to even mention the word anxiety as it’s so completely misunderstood and easily belittled by many.

I had an operation about three years ago. Felt awful the two days I was ‘recovering’ on the ward. Constantly dizzy and out of it. I had a night where I could barely sleep as my heart was pounding in my ears all night.

The nurses were lovely and trying their best but kept telling me I just had anxiety. Luckily the consultant finally came on his rounds and when I told him my symptoms he noticed my nails were blue etc did a blood oxygen test and next thing I know I’m being asked to sign loads of consent forms and being rushed back into theatre to check internal bleeding and having a blood transfusion. Luckily that all went fine and cue another few days recovery but carrying a drain bag of blood around with me everywhere.

Anyhoo, was understandably feeling a bit jittery after all this and a different nurse starts telling me I’m too anxious and talking to me like I’m completely mad. She seemed nice enough but didn’t seem to know much about mental health.

So personally I think it’s way too easy to simply dismiss people on the basis of anxiety. Especially women and mothers who historically get cast in the light of the hysteric. A true professional listens carefully to symptoms and treats each case on its own merits not on how the patient would come across giving a pitch on The Apprentice or something.

Op I hope your DD is perfectly fine but I don’t think your anxiety over a condition that has affected two family members should be discarded as hysteria. I think you should definitely speak to your GP about your DDs symptoms.

Even if they do all the investigations and all is fine I think it would be a good idea to discuss with your GP what to lookout for if DD or yourself were to sadly develop this in the future or if there is any genetic testing that could indicate your risk levels. Best of luck

[Summerfun54321]

You did what you thought was right based on your own family medical history. You did nothing wrong.

[CoastalWave]

Given she woke up last night screaming in pain, I personally wouldn't be sat in A+E now. It's not an accident or an emergency.

However, given your anxiety, i do understand. I think though you should have made a Doctors appointment where they could have referred her for tests. Using A+E as a quick way to bypass these things isn't appropriate and does mean A+E is full of people who really shouldn't be there.

Hope she is ok. I'm sure it's probably just a reaction to the antibiotics or growing pains as others have said. My son has had crippling pains for over 4years now and it's still being investigated (specifically leg pains) - rushing him to A+E would not have stopped the last 4 years of doctors and hospital visits. A doctors appt is the more appropriate way.

[ArabellaScott]

@Cbd333

Just to clarify he wasn't offering the bloods today, he said dd wasn't an emergency so he would email the GP to do some routine bloods if I wanted him to. I have said yes to that.

That's sensible, OP. Hope your DD is better and you get a chance to rest up and recover. Sounds like you've had a stressful day.

[BoffinMum]

Embroidery, the red flag here is that it is only in one leg.

[Runmybathforme]

A & E is as it says, for accidents and emergencies. This should have been dealt with by your GP. The fact that there will be drunks there tonight is completely irrelevant.

[TheVolturi]

I think you did the right thing op, I would have done the same. Don't let this go, at the least, you need the blood tests, hopefully it will be soon.
As a side note, my dd is 4 and although she's a little bruiser, plays rough and always injured, she's really really soft with pain. She once screamed and screamed at bedtime aged 1 out of the blue, holding her arm strangely, she had done nothing to it she'd not been out of my sight. But she was screaming so much that I took her to A&E. They basically laughed at me and said she couldn't possibly be injured if she'd not been out of my sight. They did check her over but didn't want to xray because they said she didn't need one. She cried every time she turned over in bed that night and held it strangely most of the next day. I will never know what was hurting. She often cries that her tummy hurts when she just needs a poo! I think she may be slightly dramatic 🤦🏻‍♀️. Hopefully your dd is the same.

[ViceLikeBlip]

Whenever I'm particularly anxious about a child I always make sure I tell the Dr exactly what I'm worried it might be. And then when the Dr says "oh, it's not that" I make sure they explain exactly how they know, and what extra symptoms they would be looking out for. Xx

[Audreyhelp]

You was advised to go better safe than sorry

[PinkSparklyPussyCat]

@Runmybathforme

A & E is as it says, for accidents and emergencies. This should have been dealt with by your GP. The fact that there will be drunks there tonight is completely irrelevant.

And how do you know it wasn't an emergency? You don't, especially with OP's family history. I took DH to A&E with a swollen leg, not an accident and not an emergency to other people who don't know he's had DVT in the past.

@Cbd333 I'm sorry the doctor spoke to you like that. I hope you and your DD are both ok