It has been a gruelling week, starting with little Miss Bella vomiting after her nap on Monday afternoon. She didn't seem sick, didn't have a temperature (36.2 deg C) and seemed happy enough. So I wondered if it was just the fact she didn't like the yoghurt I was trying to get her to try. It soon became apparent that the yoghurt had nothing to do with it when she vomited again not long after going to bed that night. So off to the docs we went on Tuesday morning.
We had been having problems recently, with her clenching and holding on to prevent any bowel movements. She would hold them in as long as possible, sometimes for a week or more until she could hold on no more and would produce what resembled a brick! This would cause a lot of pain and screaming, trying to stop this solid mass from emerging. I had been to the doctors twice about it and tried everything barring laxatives. In the end I could take it no longer and started her on a course of coloxyl drops 3 times a day. This was a couple of days prior to the vomiting episode.
Suspecting that the vomiting could be caused by the constipation or laxatives, I told Dr #1 her history and he agreed that it could well be connected. He ordered a urine sample to check for a UTI, told us to keep an eye on her and to bring her back if no improvement. Wednesday she was fine all day until her nap and then vomited in her bed, then vomited 3 times during the night. I spent most of my time either cleaning up vomit or washing piles and piles of bedding. Thank goodness hubby was home to help out - he was a Godsend. He missed sleep, was vomited on more than once - but was always caring and helpful in keeping her calm and getting her redressed while I cleaned up.
Thursday morning we went back to the doctors. We couldn't get an appointment to see the previous doctor and so took whatever appointment we could get for that day. Doctor #2 was not as compassionate as Doc #1 was and treated us as if we were neurotic parents. We felt as if we were just being a nuisance and wasting his time. He checked her ears and throat, felt her tummy, asked us if she had diarrhoea as well as vomiting. We said yes, but that it wasn't normal diarrhoea - she had done 2 very watery motions, followed by a biggish hard one and then another runny one. He said that was good news - gastro was the only thing that caused both vomiting and diarrhoea. It wasn't anything life threatening, it was just gastro. I asked about the constipation - couldn't that be causing it? He then wrote on a piece of paper with "Metamucil" and "Movicol" and made it obvious that the consultation was over.
I said to hubby that if she vomits again tomorrow I am taking her straight to the children's hospital - I didn't believe it was gastro. I was worried it was impaction and wasn't going to just sit around and watch her get worse and worse.
Friday morning she woke up happy and with no vomit. We were relieved and thought it was over. Maybe he had been right after all and it was just a virus. She went down for her nap at 11am and woke at 2pm - power chucked all through her bed and was very distressed. That was the final straw. We picked Jonny up from school and headed to PMH.
Not once were we treated as paranoid parents once we arrived at the hospital. The triage nurse listened and agreed that it could be a blockage. We went through very quickly and were greated by another lovely nurse who reassured us that we had done the right thing in coming there. Then the doctor came to examine her. By this stage her temperature was 35.9 and she was looking a tad pale. She felt her stomach and could feel the hard lump in her bowel. She asked a lot of questions about family history, autoimmune diseases etc and then made the decision to do blood tests to check her thyroid (I am hypothyroid), check if she has caeliac disease and check for anaemia.
Beautiful Bella thought it was this fun adventure - our little aspie, Jonny, was bored out of his brain. She lay on the bed happily and opened her mouth etc. She sat there while they put sunscreen (emla cream) on her elbows and hands in prep for the needle and didn't flinch when they took her blood. They were amazed at how this little 2 and a half year old just took it all in her stride. No hysterics or refusing treatment, she actually seemed to be enjoying all the attention! We are still waiting for the results, but at least we know if anything does show up it will be dealt with promptly. They also drew up a movement plan to get everything working properly again and wrote a letter to the GP.
Bella loved it so much there, she cried when it was time to go! Jonny, however, was much relieved. Now we wait and hope that the treatment works. So far today there has been no vomit and she has managed to hold down a little food. She is a lot happier and woke up from her nap vomit free! Finger's crossed!
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