Gp made me cry

[tralalalalalalalal]

I have told my dp and had a good cry to him as well but I need to get over this quickly because I need to look after my children.

It's easy to make me cry atm, I'm poorly, tired and awaiting an adhd assessment.

My son is 2yr 7m and not walking, only able to do a few steps. Have been trying to get some help since he was 22 months, but none has come. Waiting to see paediatrician through a child development centre- waiting list is 1 year. Saw the gp today, told her I'm concerned that not one person has physically examined my son for issues with his legs. She said it can't be a medical issue, the only medical issue she would be concerned about is if he had started walking then began to have trouble with it and stopped walking altogether, and even then you wouldn't see issues until around 8. She said it must be a developmental issue as he is delayed in other areas too (he's not saying sentences yet, but he says over 100 words).

I asked her what will happen if he starts school and can't walk (I know it's miles away but it feels like it's a possibility). She said 'well what would you want us to do?'. I said I'm not sure, I'm asking what would be the usual procedure. She said 'we take direction from the parents'. I felt like saying 'the parent is not the one that's medically trained'.

I said 'is there no conditions that would prevent a child walking from birth?' She said 'like what?' I said 'I don't know...was hoping you could tell me'.

Just at my wits end. Why was this doctor asking me as if I'm the one in the room with the medical training?

Anyone had a child not able to all on their own and it be due to a medical problem?

My dc didn’t walk until they were two and they already had a diagnosis of low muscle tone by then (by a paediatrician.) They had weekly physio for a year and made progress but they still have physical problems with their legs including pain even now they are a teenager. Also dyspraxia like a pp said.

I can’t believe there has been no referral yet and I understand your concerns.

The doctor sounds horrendous

Again, thank you to all posters giving info. I worry for the more vulnerable people in this country who don't have access to this info and put their trust into our health service.

What a dick. Why do some GPs act like fucking untouchable gods?

Anyhoo, round here you can self-refer to the physio - might that be worth a try?

It’s great you have the means to go private. I’m so sorry for your experience with the Gp and I’m not surprised you’re at your wits end I find it incredible this isn’t being escalated as more of a concern, it’s your child’s quality of life! I also thought of my niece who walked and spoke very late - she has a genetic condition but it was ages before this was diagnosed, because she’d been premature they put all her problems down to that for ages. She is now 8 and running, talking, doing really well at school but she has needed physical and speech therapies and has an EHCP. As well as looking into private I would be talking to your HV and not taking no for an answer. The HV prob knows more than GP about child development. I’d be pressing for Genetic testing too.

Is he a well built child? I ask because I was and did not start walking until 2.5. Dr just said my muscles had to develop more to support my weight!

But as he has other delays it may all be linked. Be aware sometimes even after all the tests, they don't know why some children are delayed.

I'd want to rule out Cerebral Palsy and that should have been her first thought. It's not always identified early. She sounds like an idiot.

I have CP and agree with all this. Doctors were shitty to my parents as well. Get him into physio if possible. It has meant so much in terms of cultivating and maintaining the mobility I do have.

Wish you and your family all the best.

my son didn’t walk until he was about eighteen months old. When he was two he began limping quite badly. Got referred to paediatrician and it turned out he had an infection in his hip bones. Could it be something like that?

Like a previous poster I know of this happening to my friend. She had a brain tumour also. Definitely get this checked out. They caught it and operated and she is now fine.

OP you poor thing. Anyone would have been upset if their gp had reacted like that. Can you change GP? Is that a possibility. I know a friend had a simile issue and her health visitor referred her to a paediatric orthopaedic unit. Her DS was actually fine but bizarrely didn't walk for ages.

My son is 2yrs 3 months and can also only take a few steps. We have been working with a physio for about 9 months. He has hyper mobility and low tone but we don't know if there is anything else going on yet.
We are waiting to see a consultant but I had to go through PALS to be able to get this.
I think people don't understand how difficult it is to have a toddler who can't walk. They are heavy and it really limits what you can do to with them. It is so worrying not knowing what is wrong with them.
I would put a complaint in about the doctor and get a referral to physio asap.

Have you been to a health visitor? I found they were often better than talking to a gp.

Have you spoken to your health visitor? They seem more knowledgeable about developmental stuff than GPs usually. My daughter didn't walk until 22 (or maybe 20, it's a long time ago!) months, and the health visitor referred her to physio for assessment at 18 months as that was the expected limit she said. As it was, she stood up and walked the day before her physio appointment! The physio assessed her anyway and wasn't concerned, did mention slight hypermobility. So I'd agree a physio is probably a good option while you wait for paeds. The GP sounds unhelpful!

Yes - he has juvenile arthritis. He started to walk at 22 months but prior to that we had him on camera dragging leg on walked, he couldn’t weight bear until 18 months. His jaw was also affected which impacted speech.

have they done any blood tests?

So sorry to read this. What a disgrace, and unsympathetic GP.

1)Ask another Gp to chase the referral.
2)Ask HV for an appointment. Get him reviewed. Beforehand, Ask for notes to be taken.
3)Find out which paed you are supposed to be seeing on the nhs. Ask if he/she also does private appointments. See him privately. Then explain you have a nhs referral, but you are so worried you came privately, and is there any way that you could be seen quicker on the NHS.

This is shocking. I'd definitely expect a Dr to examine your child's legs at the bare minimum, I'd be expecting them to send your child for xrays as well. Shocking that there isn't more urgency from your gp. I'd be knocking on every door you can now to get answers. Early intervention is key

Cerebral Palsy would be my concern and could also be the cause of other delays. We've also had a year's wait for DS to see a paediatrician to discuss concerns but he has much more mild issues and did walk on schedule. I would have thought you might have been triaged more urgently and I wonder if it might be worth ringing the paediatrician's secretary and checking they have all the information they need.

I would've said to the GP "Look here, you need to start doing you job properly!" And would have told him to refer my child to get the ball rolling.

Then a strong worded email complaint to the practice manager.

I agree. When are the AI GPs coming into effect I wonder. I actually think they’ll very likely be better than the human ones (I’m sure there are good ones somewhere but twice I’ve really needed a GP to step up and twice I was let down (two different GPs).

How useless if the doctor. I think you need to reply that you expect them to try to diagnose the issue and if the can't then refer to those who can. Unbelievable.

Wow. The GP sounds awful. I remember when I took my ill child in yo see one and he asked me what I thought it was. I said I don't know, that's why I'm here to see you 🙈
I'd probably engage a private physio at this point, and yes try the HV, but my experiences with them have been mixed.

I would make another appointment, ask for a different gp, and explicitly ask for referrals to a paediatrician and a physio. I would not see that particular doctor again - and if asked why not, I would explain that she has a dreadful manner and was as much use as a chocolate teapot.

Unfortunately there are some fundamental flaws with how AI works. One garbage in garbage out also so far it's been a challenge to program in the ability to no the difference between low iron is anaemia and low iron plus obscure comment made in passing means not anaemia and actually something serious.
The other thing that is proving difficult as it will weight 100 papers citing a tried and test treatment over 1 paper showing a new treatment far superior to the tried and tested treatment or potentially more serious a paper identifying a serious flaw or side effect of that treatment.

If medicine was as simple as swallowing lots of medical text books there wouldn't be as many lousy dr's out there. it's more nuanced than a lot of Drs will acknowledge and that's the source of a lot of the problems with dr's. When it's the same people providing the data for AI as training the drs there is a real possibility that we will have the same frustrations when we have Ai drs too. Rant over apologies for the detail!

Can he weight bear and hold himself up when holding onto something? Children's gross motor development goes from head to toe, first hold their head up, use their arms, roll, sit while being supported, sit alone and maintain their weight on legs when held, pull to stand, then lastly walk alone. Not all children crawl, bum shufflers can be late walkers and late walkers can run in families. If your son is developing some of the skills, eventually he is likely to walk. He does sound delayed but that does not mean he won't get there
Is his development delayed in other areas?
If he does not have strength in his back and legs, then he needs investigation.
Give him plenty of time on the floor, don't use a baby walker that he sits in. Look at parents leaflets on Association of Paediatric Physiotherapist website. Take him to toddler groups, family centre. Put things slightly out of reach to help him want to move
See another GP and get his hips checked, do you hear his hips click when changing his nappy, is one leg longer than another, if so, he needs his hips checked again
Get support from your HV to access early support services
Try not to stress too much,

I'm really sorry you had this experience, what an awful GP!! Please go back and ask to see a different doctor. To everyone saying that all GPs don't know much, that really isn't true and it is unfair to group them all like that. There are some fantastic GPs out there.

I hope next time you have a better experience..but yes you might need to be more demanding in getting a referral for physio and paediatrician or else go private. 2 and a half is quite late to not be walking