Would you go back to the ER?

[rachel6789]

On Tuesday I brought DD to the pediatrician for constipation. He gave me a handful of ideas to get her to poop and we even tried a suppository. Nothing has worked. Yesterday she woke up screaming in her sleep and I couldn't comfort her. This continued throughout the day so I called her pediatrician again and he told me to take her to the ER for an X-ray to check for a possible blockage.

We sat there for 6 hours and they did nothing accept validate our parking. They didn't do an X-ray, labs, nothing. I even explained to them that we were told to come in by her doctor. They used a rectal thermometer to try to stimulate a bowel movement, which we had already done several times, and then discharged her with a diagnosis of excessive crying.

She has slept a lot this morning and afternoon, but the screaming and crying has started again. I just put another call in to her doctor and I'm waiting for a call back.

Would you take her back? Maybe ask him to call ahead and speak to the peds doctor on call and explain what's been happening and ask for an X-ray? I feel like I failed for not putting my foot down last night and asking them to do more. I just didn't know what I should have expected until her pediatrician followed up with me this morning and asked what kind of tests had been done.

[feistypants]

I'd call your pedi. If he says to head back to the ER, ask him if he would call ahead given your bad experience last night. That's totally reasonable.

[Aquatica]

...discharged her with a diagnosis of excessive crying.

I don't understand how she could be discharged with a diagnosis that isn't even related to your main problem.

It really sounds like they pushed you out. I'd go back and not leave until they do what you were told by your doctor to have done (x-ray and labs).

Is there another hospital you can go to? If not, be very firm with them and if you have to, talk to someone in charge if they try to push you out again without doing the tests.

[rachel6789]

There are about 5 hospitals within 30 minutes of us, but the closest children's hospital is just over an hour away. I'm totally willing to take her if her pediatrician thinks it's necessary.

[wambam]

Excessive crying?! WTAF?

[Eagles]

What the hell? I'm sorry they dismissed you.

[cuddlyevil]

Get her to the Children’s Hospital. I know the drive will be rough, but it might be worth it.

[mekia]

I'm sorry if her ped said to go and see a doctor, I would keep trying to see one. Is the ped able to see her tomorrow though? I don't know if I would want to wait another day so I may just go to a different place tonight.

[vmars]

My pedi calls ahead when we go to the er and always tells us which one to go to based on symptoms and specialists on call. Call your ped and ask them to do this. They may have to manually get the poop out. Ugh, I'm sorry!

[keyslover]

Dec 6, 2015 17:18:33 GMT -5 kooshball said:

How old? She hasn't pooped since Tuesday?

Sounds like she brought her in the the pedi Tuesday for constipation. No mention of how long it was since she had pooped before she brought her in.

[rachel6789]

We are at the children's hospital now. Our pediatrician called over here so they were expecting us. At least the doctors here agree that something should have been done, and we are waiting for X-ray now.

[sofamonkey]

Look, your pedi already told you to take her in, so I'd make the drive to the pediatric hospital. Sure, the drive will suck, but so is watching your kid like this.


Later on, I'd write a scathing Fuck yourself letter to the er that gave that "diagnosis"

[lolo]

Dec 6, 2015 18:38:33 GMT -5 rachel6789 said:

We are at the children's hospital now. Our pediatrician called over here so they were expecting us. At least the doctors here agree that something should have been done, and we are waiting for X-ray now.

I hope they can give her the help she needs, poor thing!

[Alex]

I'm so glad you're there. She must be absolutely miserable

[textbookcase]

I'm glad you're at the children's hospital, I can't believe the ER sent you home without checking anything out. That is insane. I hope she gets some relief soon and I hope you get answers! Hugs.

[underwaterrhymes]

I'm so angry for you! I can't believe that other ER! .

I hope your daughter feels better soon.

[whiskeyandwine]

Dec 6, 2015 18:38:33 GMT -5 rachel6789 said:

We are at the children's hospital now. Our pediatrician called over here so they were expecting us. At least the doctors here agree that something should have been done, and we are waiting for X-ray now.

Just thinking about you this morning. I hope you got some answers and solutions last night! How is your baby this morning?

[papie]

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience. We have been to the children's ER 2-3 times over the years for constipation issues (we thought it could be appendicitis every time) and they ran lots of tests, gave an enema and a prescription and gave us steps to follow if it happened again. It would take about a month to clear her up completely.
Good luck!

[isabel]

Dec 6, 2015 17:23:07 GMT -5 wambam said:

Excessive crying?! WTAF?

Right? Like you have got to be some kind of asshole doctor to come up with that "diagnosis."

rachel6789 how is she today?

[rachel6789]

She's doing ok this morning. They ended up admitting her last night. Her abdominal X-ray showed that the right side of her bowel was distended and she was really backed up. They did a barium enema to see if there was anything blocked or twisted. I haven't heard the results of that yet, we are waiting for the doctor to round. Later this afternoon they will do another abdominal X-ray to see if it is still distended now that they've helped her poop and cleared her out.

[Deleted]

Poor girl, I can't believe the first ER didn't do anything! Hope she's starting to feel better. I don't know if she's old enough, but we give C the gummie fiber vitamins and they made all the difference.

[panbitch]

I'm glad they admitted her but so mad with that excess crying shit.

[mekia]

Poor baby. I'd be SO PISSED at the other ER. WTF.

[rachel6789]

Dec 7, 2015 10:39:33 GMT -5 mekia said:

Poor baby. I'd be SO PISSED at the other ER. WTF.

Our pediatrician called the first ER and spoke with the doctor that discharged her and told her that it was bullshit and asked why they didn't do specific tests and her response was that she didn't want to do too much testing to a perfectly healthy kid. Serious wtf. So doing absolutely nothing is apparently better.

[FastHands]

Dec 7, 2015 10:43:27 GMT -5 rachel6789 said:

Dec 7, 2015 10:39:33 GMT -5 mekia said:

Poor baby. I'd be SO PISSED at the other ER. WTF.

Our pediatrician called the first ER and spoke with the doctor that discharged her and told her that it was bullshit and asked why they didn't do specific tests and her response was that she didn't want to do too much testing to a perfectly healthy kid. Serious wtf. So doing absolutely nothing is apparently better.

Oh, in THAT case...! wtf?! You have a kid in pain, whose physician specifically sent her to the ER for xrays! 
I hope you say something to their patient advocacy dept.

Glad your girl is feeling better, and hope she gets well and can go home soon.

[Eagles]

OP, I'm glad she's better and also that your pedi is on the same page as you re: the appalling treatment at the first ER. What the fuck.

[residentdj]

Poor baby! At least she was able to finally get help and is hopefully feeling better.

We haven't had too many issues with constipation for DD (knock on wood), but one of the things that we do for her is give her probiotic daily, which is supposed to help with that. Our pediatrician is big on giving this to kids for that and plenty of other reasons. Ask your pedi about incorporating this into your daughter's diet. It might help prevent future episodes.

I'm copying and pasting the info from our pediatrician's website about probiotics:

www.happyandhealthypediatrics.com/Probiotic_handout__1_.pdf

Probiotics

What is it?
Probiotics are live bacteria that are good for your health. They work by balancing the natural intestinal flora and have health
promoting benefits for the digestive and immune systems. They have been used for centuries as a naturally occurring component of
fermented food, such as cheese, sauerkraut and yogurt.

What do they do?
The best-proven health benefits of probiotics are:
 Shortening the period of symptoms of stomach viruses.
 Decreasing the risk of having side effects from treatment with antibiotics.
Probiotics have been shown in clinical trials to benefit in a wide array of common GI problems in children:
 Decrease number of episodes of regurgitation.
 Reduce mean daily crying time (Improved colic).
 Improve irregular bowel habits.
 Less episodes and days with diarrhea.
 Reduce severity of frequent abdominal pain.
 Improve digestion.

Other benefits include:
 Decrease the risk of allergy in infants and young children.
 Boost your immune system.
 Aid in the treatment of eczema.
 Decrease risk of fungal diaper rashes and thrush.

Brands that we recommend:
Florastor and Florastor Kids: Florastor contains Saccharomyces boulardii lyo, a friendly yeast. Because it is a yeast,
and not a bacteria, it is very beneficial to take while on an antibiotic. We recommend taking it twice a day duringperiods that one is taking an antibiotic. It can also be taken once per day for general gut health.

Nature’s way:
 Children’s formula is designed for children 0-5 years of age. It is a powder that dissolves easily into fluids.
 Kids formula is a chewable tablet designed for children 2-12 years of age.
 Adult form is an enteric coated capsule designed for adults.

BioGaia:
 Infant drops (Name changed to Gerber Soothe Colic Drops)
 Drinking straws for children- the child has to drink 3 ounces of fluid through the straw in order to get the
dose and it is tasteless.
 Chewable tablets for older children

[panicfoot]

Poor baby

Glad she's feeling better.

[lg28]

I'm so sorry you had such an awful experience. I'm glad you are in good hands now.

We have an awful time with constipation with both of our kids, even though they do have a decent diet.
I'm going to start probiotics soon to see if they help.