Guest guest Posted June 9, 2003 Report Share Posted June 9, 2003 Hi Guys, As I type I've only slept probably 6 hours in the last 4 days, so forgive the typos or incomplete sentences. My 13 y/o DD, Brittany has been in and out of the ER and Urgent care since Friday afternoon. Here's the scenario.... She came to me about ten days complaining about her period being " really weird " . She explained that over the last month she's bled 6 different times I told her she should have told me sooner. I call the doc, make an appointment and the soonest I can get her in to the Nurse Practitioner is Tuesday. So, Tuesday we went. Immediately, we thought " ovarian cyst " . Drew blood, did a UA, ordered and Ultrasound. I made the ultrasound appointment for the following Thursday (this last Thursday). With all this waiting, she's getting paler, weaker, and her stomach is hurting much more. She presented with lower pelvic area pain, more on the left, then right. But she also presented with flank pain on both side and upper quadrant pain. So, the ultrasound that was ordered was pelvic & abdominal. They did it, and said, " Good Luck " as we walked out. Friday night, she starts crying in pain, saying she feels like she's gonna puke (this is a kid who can break her wrist in HALF and not cry when they pop it back into place and set it.). I take her to the ER. They do another UA, another ultrasound of the pelvic region, and shoot her up with Morphine. After 8 hours, they come in and say, " Well she's not pregnant and there isn t a cyst " then they tell us to follow up with our doctor on Monday. Saturday morning, 4am, she's starving, mom stops at " Yakos tacos " also known as Jack in the Box to those of you who don't speak teenager, and she eats 2 tacos and 2 egg rolls. She then goes to bed. She wakes up crying in pain again at 7am. I tell her there's nothing I can do, take your vicodin. So, she takes it, and comes to bed with me. She's moaning and rolling around. She finally calms down. I ask her sister's if they're hungry, they want pizza, we go buy pizza hut personal pans for the three girls, I buy tacos. Britt doesn't finish her cheese pizza, just her bread sticks and she's sucking down this pink lemonaid. By 1:00 She's throwing up. Five solid minutes the kid was in the bathroom. I call her dad home, call her grandma, call the doctor and go to Urgent Care They start an IV (She's dehydrated, they blow 4 veins). They shoot her up with medication for nausea/vomiting. They do blood work for liver panel. They then give her a " GI Cocktail " . It numbed her throat and helped calm her tummy down. The pain STOPPED! After three hours, they said the results wouldn't be back until morning, because they had to send them out. Go home, and come back tomorrow at 12:30. Today, we returned...12:30. She had been on clear liquids, doctor's order. This morning, she had no vicodin, just two small cups of jello at 9:00 am. By 12:30 she was crying in pain, beggin' for something for the pain. They started an IV again, and gave her something for nausea and Demerol. They drew more blood, and reviewed her blood work from the night before. Said that her liver enzymes were 4 times the normal amount and one of the doctors had written down " Hepatitis " . They called in the pediatrician, who said, she did not present " classic symptoms " of hepatitis, (yellow skin tone, eyes etc.), therefore, he wasn't quite convinced, and wanted to explore the idea of Gallbladder more. So, off to the ER for a surgical consult. We get to the ER, are put in a room, with a lovely woman who though every person in uniform was just for her, and would start moaning and beggin for more pain medication. She tried to get up and walk out twice. She tried to pull her iv off twice. And she was stickin her finger down her throat so she would puke. They finally admitted and moved her to a different area. So Britt finally got to sleep..... of course they shot her up with Morphine first, as the demerol was wearing off. They did ANOTHER ultrasound, this time, of the abdomen. Everything looked normal, but her spleen is enlarged. More blood, more iv.... more waiting, because the labs computer is down, and they're having to do everything manually. They ordered a Mono Panel, Liver panel, CBC and ALT and something else. 4 hours later... with NO RESULTS, they sent us home. The Nurse Practitioner came in and said, " Well it's either hepatitis or mono both are viral and there's nothing we can do about it. The issue here is pain management. " Then she starts telling us that Brittany shouldn't take any tylenol, Advil, Motrin, Vicodin, etc. because these things will only hurt " her liver more. She should only take them if she can't stand the pain anymore. Then she starts lecturing us about how we're going to make her addicted to pain killers and we should be giving her all these pain medications. That pain management is " 90% mental. You just have to think positive thoughts " . Come on...this is a 13 year old kid who we could never tell had a ear infection unless they did a pressure check on ears! STREP THROAT didn't even keep this kid down. Heck when she had Chicken Pox she wanted to go ride her bike!! This is a kid with really high tolerance. They've given her another Morphine shot by the way before this lovely lecture takes place, and it hasn't effected her at all. She is sitting there talking to me like it's any other normal day of the week, every now and then, grabbing her side and saying, " ouch " . Oh, and did I mention that they sent her home with a prescription for pain to take ONLY if she CAN'T STAND THE PAIN ANYMORE? It's Norco... Another high class name for VICODIN!!!!! So, tomorrow, I'm on the phone again, trying to get another appointment with someone for her primary care. I'm going to call the pediatrician she always sees. She at least knows Brittany even though she told us not to bring her back, she was getting " too old " for her. Otherwise, I could get her to the nurse practitioner that saw her last week, or maybe even the PA that takes care of me and my mom... meanwhile...... back at the ranch... the poor kid is moaning in pain. Now, my research on the net shows that could have BOTH Mono & Hepatitis. It also shows that steroids are indicated when the spleen is enlarged. It says nothing about with holding pain medication at any time. It says, rest and fluid. And of course gives this time frame for it to " run it's course " . Meanwhile, she's suppose to be turning in major work this week, that she's been took damn tired to do for the last week (I guess it was suppose to be done between trips to the doctor) and she's suppose to GRADUATE from middle school on the 25th. As it stands now, she can't go back to school until the 16th. (which will probably be extended if this continues). She may fail 2 classes. Not a good thing. So.... don't think I've disappeared... I'm in the land of no sleep, lots of tears, worry and prayer.... care to join me? Thanks guys... and if you want to get a hold of me, I'm only reading private e-mails right now, so e-mail me missy.sue @ verizon.net No spaces of course Melisa Who would love to get some sleep and just realized it's almost 3:30 in the morning. Saturday, after eating Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 9, 2003 Report Share Posted June 9, 2003 > Melisa Who would love to get some sleep and just realized it's almost 3:30 > in the morning. > Prayers are with your entire family... Sharon in Onyx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 9, 2003 Report Share Posted June 9, 2003 > Hi Guys, > > As I type I've only slept probably 6 hours in the last 4 days, so forgive > the typos or incomplete sentences. > > My 13 y/o DD, Brittany has been in and out of the ER and Urgent care since > Friday afternoon. Here's the scenario.... > > She came to me about ten days complaining about her period being " really > weird " . She explained that over the last month she's bled 6 different times > I told her she should have told me sooner. I call the doc, make an > appointment and the soonest I can get her in to the Nurse Practitioner is > Tuesday. So, Tuesday we went. Immediately, we thought " ovarian cyst " . > Drew blood, did a UA, ordered and Ultrasound. I made the ultrasound > appointment for the following Thursday (this last Thursday). With all this > waiting, she's getting paler, weaker, and her stomach is hurting much more. > She presented with lower pelvic area pain, more on the left, then right. > But she also presented with flank pain on both side and upper quadrant pain. > So, the ultrasound that was ordered was pelvic & abdominal. They did it, > and said, " Good Luck " as we walked out. > > Friday night, she starts crying in pain, saying she feels like she's gonna > puke (this is a kid who can break her wrist in HALF and not cry when they > pop it back into place and set it.). I take her to the ER. They do another > UA, another ultrasound of the pelvic region, and shoot her up with Morphine. > After 8 hours, they come in and say, " Well she's not pregnant and there isn > t a cyst " then they tell us to follow up with our doctor on Monday. > > Saturday morning, 4am, she's starving, mom stops at " Yakos tacos " also known > as Jack in the Box to those of you who don't speak teenager, and she eats 2 > tacos and 2 egg rolls. She then goes to bed. She wakes up crying in pain > again at 7am. I tell her there's nothing I can do, take your vicodin. So, > she takes it, and comes to bed with me. She's moaning and rolling around. > She finally calms down. I ask her sister's if they're hungry, they want > pizza, we go buy pizza hut personal pans for the three girls, I buy tacos. > Britt doesn't finish her cheese pizza, just her bread sticks and she's > sucking down this pink lemonaid. By 1:00 She's throwing up. Five solid > minutes the kid was in the bathroom. > > I call her dad home, call her grandma, call the doctor and go to Urgent Care > They start an IV (She's dehydrated, they blow 4 veins). They shoot her up > with medication for nausea/vomiting. They do blood work for liver panel. > They then give her a " GI Cocktail " . It numbed her throat and helped calm > her tummy down. The pain STOPPED! After three hours, they said the results > wouldn't be back until morning, because they had to send them out. Go home, > and come back tomorrow at 12:30. > > Today, we returned...12:30. She had been on clear liquids, doctor's order. > This morning, she had no vicodin, just two small cups of jello at 9:00 am. > By 12:30 she was crying in pain, beggin' for something for the pain. They > started an IV again, and gave her something for nausea and Demerol. They > drew more blood, and reviewed her blood work from the night before. Said > that her liver enzymes were 4 times the normal amount and one of the doctors > had written down " Hepatitis " . They called in the pediatrician, who said, > she did not present " classic symptoms " of hepatitis, (yellow skin tone, eyes > etc.), therefore, he wasn't quite convinced, and wanted to explore the idea > of Gallbladder more. So, off to the ER for a surgical consult. > > We get to the ER, are put in a room, with a lovely woman who though every > person in uniform was just for her, and would start moaning and beggin for > more pain medication. She tried to get up and walk out twice. She tried to > pull her iv off twice. And she was stickin her finger down her throat so > she would puke. They finally admitted and moved her to a different area. > So Britt finally got to sleep..... of course they shot her up with Morphine > first, as the demerol was wearing off. They did ANOTHER ultrasound, this > time, of the abdomen. Everything looked normal, but her spleen is enlarged. > More blood, more iv.... more waiting, because the labs computer is down, > and they're having to do everything manually. They ordered a Mono Panel, > Liver panel, CBC and ALT and something else. 4 hours later... with NO > RESULTS, they sent us home. > > The Nurse Practitioner came in and said, " Well it's either hepatitis or mono > both are viral and there's nothing we can do about it. The issue here is > pain management. " Then she starts telling us that Brittany shouldn't take > any tylenol, Advil, Motrin, Vicodin, etc. because these things will only > hurt " her liver more. She should only take them if she can't stand the pain > anymore. Then she starts lecturing us about how we're going to make her > addicted to pain killers and we should be giving her all these pain > medications. That pain management is " 90% mental. You just have to think > positive thoughts " . Come on...this is a 13 year old kid who we could never > tell had a ear infection unless they did a pressure check on ears! STREP > THROAT didn't even keep this kid down. Heck when she had Chicken Pox she > wanted to go ride her bike!! This is a kid with really high tolerance. > They've given her another Morphine shot by the way before this lovely > lecture takes place, and it hasn't effected her at all. She is sitting > there talking to me like it's any other normal day of the week, every now > and then, grabbing her side and saying, " ouch " . Oh, and did I mention that > they sent her home with a prescription for pain to take ONLY if she CAN'T > STAND THE PAIN ANYMORE? It's Norco... Another high class name for > VICODIN!!!!! > > So, tomorrow, I'm on the phone again, trying to get another appointment with > someone for her primary care. I'm going to call the pediatrician she always > sees. She at least knows Brittany even though she told us not to bring her > back, she was getting " too old " for her. Otherwise, I could get her to the > nurse practitioner that saw her last week, or maybe even the PA that takes > care of me and my mom... meanwhile...... back at the ranch... the poor kid > is moaning in pain. > > Now, my research on the net shows that could have BOTH Mono & Hepatitis. It > also shows that steroids are indicated when the spleen is enlarged. It says > nothing about with holding pain medication at any time. It says, rest and > fluid. And of course gives this time frame for it to " run it's course " . > Meanwhile, she's suppose to be turning in major work this week, that she's > been took damn tired to do for the last week (I guess it was suppose to be > done between trips to the doctor) and she's suppose to GRADUATE from middle > school on the 25th. As it stands now, she can't go back to school until the > 16th. (which will probably be extended if this continues). She may fail 2 > classes. Not a good thing. > > So.... don't think I've disappeared... I'm in the land of no sleep, lots of > tears, worry and prayer.... care to join me? > > Thanks guys... and if you want to get a hold of me, I'm only reading private > e-mails right now, so e-mail me missy.sue @ verizon.net No spaces of course > > > Melisa Who would love to get some sleep and just realized it's almost 3:30 > in the morning. > > Saturday, after eating > Melisa, I know it may be a while before you read this,but know our hearts, thoughts,and prayers are with you and your family at this time. It's tough when a child is sick Good luck,hope you get some sleep and God bless Pat in Taft > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 27, 2004 Report Share Posted March 27, 2004 Missy - What beautiful postings! You are such an inspiration in print. But SEEING you at the support meeting the last time you were there was just amazing! You are the epitome of the DS winner/loser. Congratulations, and may your healing continue on the right track. Bobbe - <115.5 pounds> from 268.5 at DS 3/12/03. Highest weight 285 in '98 <147.5> Don't postpone joy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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