Now this sucks

[Gatorubet]

Lilest Gatorubet was not feeling well Monday, was throwing up, and had abdominal pain and a slight fever The pain got worse, especially in the lower right tummy, so Tuesday afternoon I brought him to ER at our Children's Hospital, thinking to myself, he has appendicitis.

Doctors do a WBC, which was slightly elevated, and admitted him for the night. They kept him all Wednesday until 5:00 pm, saying his CT looked funny but not definitive, and discharged him saying it was likely a virus. Thursday my wife brought him to the pediatrician because he was still not feeling well, and they told my wife he didn't have appendicitis because Children's Hospital are the experts, and sent him home with diarrhea medicine.

When he was not better Friday and my wife wanted to go back to the pediatrician, I told my wife hell no, take him back to the friggin hospital right now, where the surgical resident announced on his arrival after another CT and WBC that his appendix had ruptured several days earlier.

Now he feels like [censored], is on mega intravenous antibiotics, and will stay at the hospital for a week. They will do surgery in about six weeks to remove what remains of his appendix as soon as the infection is controlled. My son is not feeling well, but his dad is supremely [censored]ed. His pediatrician's partner came by today, noting that this was a "social visit" and not a consult, as he wanted to check on us. I'm sure everybody is tip-toeing around wondering if I am going to sue them - which I'm not. Assholes!

Funny thing is, I recently tried (and won) a failure to diagnose appendicitis case, and deposed at least five doctors about the standard of care and differential diagnosis of appendicitis in the last three years. When the hospital did not take a WBC on Wednesday prior to his discharge to follow up on the initial one Tuesday afternoon, I should have been rude and caused a fuss and demanded one. Damn it. I'm so mad at myself.

[Best Buckeye]

poor kid , hope he recovers asap Gator.

[OCBucksFan]

Hope your little one is feeling better soon.

[CCI]

Sure hope the lil gator feels beter

[Deety]

Poor kiddo... hope he feels better soon.

[3074326]

Hope everything is back to normal soon. Always sucks when situations like that occur..

[generaladm]

Best wishes to lil Gator. You're in for a long few weeks, but try to keep positive thoughts.

[shetuck]

As if having you as his father wasn't enough a pain in the rectum...








Hope he gets better soon.

[coastalbuck]

Hope he's back to normal ASAP. Damn doctors don't want to do anything but send you to another doctor anymore, as soon as they bill you for nothing....

[BuckeyeMac]

Shady doctors, I'm sorry to hear about this. Hope the little one gets better soon!

[BuckeyeRyn]

UGh, that is a frustrating story. I do hope he continues to feel better as the antibiotics take effect. Don't beat yourself up too bad though. As parents we do the best we can given circumstances and the fact that you and your wife stuck with things since you knew something wasn't right speaks volumes.

I too can't believe they didn't repeat the bloodwork before discharging him on Wed. UGH! Seems just odd to me... keep in mind, you can always do your own "at home" appendicitis check... have the person jump off a chair, if they can't hold their landing or it increases the pain tenfold chances are great they have a hot appendix. A little old school and barbaric but let's you know when something might be a bit more serious than just a belly ache or virus.


Remember, force fluids, will help to flush the body of infections.

[OCBuckWife]

I had appendicitis when I was about 11. My mother didn't have medical insurance and didn't trust doctors and was really broke. She diagnosed me at home using the old "push in slow and release fast, wait to see if it increases the pain" method.

She doctored me herself, in the living room, for 3 or 4 days, I don't remember. I was delirious with fever. She kept me in a sleeping bag, to help break the fever, and occasionally my step father would hold me up under a cold shower to bring the fever down some. My mom gave me antibiotics, tetracycline, that she bought at the local fish store. (They use it to treat ich on fish)

With lots of care, and love, and 24 hour around the clock attention, I beat the infection and came around without my appendix bursting. To this day I haven't had it out and I wonder at my luck.


Good luck with your little Gator, keep an eye on him, love him and keep him on those antibiotics. Try a different hospital next time if necessary. Those other guys suck!
Aren't pediatricians supposed to be the damn specialists!?

[EidoloN]

Best wishes to you and your little one, these situations suck and you can't help but feel bad about what he is going through. Hope all gets better soon!

[BuckeyeMike80]

Originally Posted by Gatorubet

When the hospital did not take a WBC on Wednesday prior to his discharge to follow up on the initial one Tuesday afternoon, I should have been rude and caused a fuss and demanded one. Damn it. I'm so mad at myself.

Hindsight is 20/20 Gator. We go to doctors because they are the experts. You can't blame yourself over someone else's mistakes. As much as it hurts, there really isn't much for you to do now except be with your son and help them through it.

don't beat yourself up over it. That's not important anymore. Now the important thing is getting your kiddo better.

Good luck and best wishes to your child, yourself and your family.

[Wingate1217]

Best wishes and get well son to 'lil gator....

It wasn't a U of M doc by chance????