I am definitely a worrier, so I just wanted to ask everyone's opinion. My nine year old son, who is rarely sick, has been having a rough year, complete with a couple of ear infections, three strep episodes (a matter of finding the right meds), and a stomach virus. In fact, it seems as though every time he doesn't feel well this school year, he ends up with some type of infection. He is having a HUGE growth spurt, and the doctor suggested that maybe that's why he is having a tough time fighting off the bugs. He also has a strange classroom - no desks - the children are at tables sharing common materials and sitting very close together.
Yesterday morning my son woke up early and said he was hungry. He is an excellent eater, but when I gave him his breakfast, he ate about half and said he needed to lie down becasue his stomach hurt. A few minutes later he was fine. I ran some errands and when I returned my husband told me our son was feeling ill again. He had a temp of 100, extreme nausea, and a really bad headache. He never vomited or had diarrhea, but didn't want anything to eat or drink. I couldn't get any oral pain relievers in him so I went out to get a tylenol suppository. When I returned, my son was in the middle of a two hour nap. When he woke up he was completely fine, without needing any Tylenol. He was even asking for pizza. He ate, drank, and played normally for the rest of the day.
This morning I took him to Urgent Care. A rapid strep test was negative, and a culture was sent to the lab. The doctor said his throat and nose looked like he had allergies, but nothing else. She listened to his belly with a stethoscope and did some poking and prodding in the abdominal area. Nothing was painful. In fact, later today my son got in trouble for climbing on the family room couch and jumping off . I guess I worry because some people have said that appendix pain can come and go . Two weeks ago my son said he had to lie down in the nurse's office because of a stomach ache. He doesn't have any problems with constipation. When I ask him where his tummy hurts he usually rubs the area above his bellybutton and towards the left side. I guess sometimes I wonder if Urgent Care is a good substitute for the pediatrician, but we have done well there so far this year. He has been so sick that I think a part of me can't believe that his illness yesterday was just a virus. My son also has a really strict teacher, so I wonder if he is a little stressed out this year too. Thanks for reading this long post.
It may have been a migraine. My son has had them since he was very small. Sometimes with head-pain and nausea and sometimes just lights flashing. He also has allergies, which may be an underlying cause. Sleeping or lying down in a dark room helps. Tylenol or Ibuprofin, if they can keep it down. When really bad, we gave him drammamine. It helps the nausea.
our Urgent Care is great!
& pain on the left side ....would not be appendicitis. :)
& yes, he's been sick a lot. With so many rounds of strep/antibiotics, the flora/fauna in the digestive system can get off-balance. Try some yogurt. Also viruses can come & go - rapidly, without being full-blown. Sounds like a bug to me.
& tables are a popular choice for many classrooms. Not any different from sitting side-by-side in the cafeteria!
& yes, you're a worrier! If this all happened yesterday morning, then why did you go to the dr this morning? Time to get settled with a regular pediatrician....someone who can really track your son's illnesses. :)
I'm wondering why you're worrying about his appendix.
The appendix is on the RIGHT side.
I think the best thing is to have a pediatrician to track things, especially if there seems to be a long series of things happening. Urgent Care is there for accute symptoms and issues. They don't track things. They are there to try to deal with an immediate need. In my opinion, Urgent Care is not a good substitue for having a regular physician familiar with all the differing issues ANY patient may have.
Since you are a worrier, you might want to also consider being careful about projecting worry onto your son especially if his tummy troubles could be anxiety related.
I would have him evaluated by a pediatrician that you keep in the loop.
Just my opinion.
When one has abdominal pain with appendicitis the abdomen is rigid. also the appendix is on the right side.
I, too, suggest that you need to take your son to a pediatrician the next time he's ill so that you can develop a relationship with one doctor who specializes in the care of children. By seeing the same doctor repeatedly the doctor may be more likely able to see a pattern which will help find a way to stop the repeat illnesses.
I do agree with you that his classroom set up is likely to add to his inability to fight off infection.
Stomach pains are common among children. I wouldn't worry so much.
Yes you are a worrier :) my son who is 8.5 has similar complaints all the time. He also gets weird sicknesses that only last a day. The last time was the first time I actually took him to the doctor as he had a 104 fever for 2 straight days. He had strep. Symptoms of strep are commonly stomach ache and head ache. Maybe you caught it too soon and it's not showing up. Wait a bit till he is really sick to take him in. :) Urgent care is for people who are urgent - like they will die before morning :)
My 6 year old did have appendicitis and trust me you would know. He was screaming in pain and there was no relief. There was for sure something VERY wrong....so I wouldn't be worried about appendicitis. Around here there is a awful stomach bug going around......maybe that's it.
First off, I have no idea what is going on with your son medically.
My son (also 9) has allergies and now that we've identified it, and treat it daily, he gets a LOT less sinus infections...which CAN lead to nausea from the drainage, etc.
And antibiotics can be tough on the tummy as well.Maybe that's related?
I just wanted to say to keep in mind that Urgent Care/Med Express type places are not generally staffed by pediatricians, and kids aren't small adults--there IS a difference.
I'd make an appt. with your pediatrician.
Does your pediatrician's office have an after-hours type clinic for non-emergency visits so he doesn't have to miss school?
There has been a lot of tummy virus' going on around here. Last week all 3 of my older boys were out of school on different days due to it. Thankfully they all lasted only a day. When I went to pick #2 up from school, the nurse said that day alone there was 10 kids out of school with it and 2 more sitting in the office waiting to go home ( in our school that's a lot of kids! The average grade only has 20-25 kids in it).
Also with my kids atleast once a month they have something going on with their bellies. They are sick to it/ queasy, not hungry, low grade temp but no throwing up or diarrhea. I hope this isn't a sign of what the rest of the year is going to be like! While I loved the warm winter I don't think it killed off enough bugs like normal.
Rita,
Believe me at some point if it was appendicitis you would know. The pain is actually on the right side and lower than the belly button. My son actuay had a ruptured appendix for two days before they removed it because his pain was very random but his fever persisted and continued to get worse. His pain finally did get really bad but as I said it was after two days from when it ruptured and then we had so many other problems.
Keep an eye on him for a couple of days maybe it was just a 24 hour thing. My daughter is always stressed at school and often has stomach pain so that is a good possibility. Hope this helped.
L.
In my opinion, urgent care is not a substitute for a pediatrician who gets to know your child long-term.
As for the tummy issues, it could be a lot of things, including acid reflux or any of the things the other posters have said. But you need a doctor to sort it out - one you can go to, and schedule follow-up appointment with to work with long-term.
I would make an appt w/his pediatrician for Monday.
Better to have him looked at and have peace of mind.
Urgent care is good for after hours.
If you're ever really concerned & it's after hours, I'd take him to the emergency room at your hospital.
Hello. I can tell you that when I had appendicitis, the morning of it when I woke up I felt "weird" I couldn't pin point what it was I felt but I just felt, well nasty. I remember I dropped off my kids at school and daycare, at daycare i told the teacher I don't feel too good, and i remember her saying "i have a yogurt, you want it?" and i refused it and headed off to work, when i got to work (i work with my family) i told my dad im gonna go lay down i dont feel good, this was about 8:30am) by 1130am i was calling my sister on her cell phone (i couldnt even get out of bed to tell her in person) i was crying and i remember telling her my stomach hurts really bad(it hurt right where your esophagus and stomach meet) i don't know what it is, and i remember my dad coming into the room and he told me "you need to go to the hospital" so my sister took me, the er nurse told me "you dont look too good honey" I was pale and had a fast heart rate, every our my heart kept getting faster and eventually i developed a fever, by about 3 pm the pain had moved to my right side and i was having trouble walking, 14 hrs after getting to the er (it could have ruptured!) they got it out. So if it were appendicitis that he has, i think all the symptoms would be closer together, and trust me he would not be climbing on anything!
I have actually had better care for the kids at Urgent Care. They aren't stuck in Kiddie Land and Kiddie ailments. They do tend to look deeper in my opinion. If she pocked and prodded and nothing happened I would not think it was appendicitis. Especially since he is saying the wrong part of his body is hurting. Where he is indication would say to me it might be a gall stone or even kidney's. They are above the belly button and on the sides.
I don't think you need to worry about appendicitis - the appendix is on the right side. I do wonder if he still has his tonsils. You might want to take him to an ENT and see if his tonsils are shot. They are there to be the first line of the body's ability to fight infection, but sometimes they cause more problems than they help.
The other thing to do is go to an allergist (the ENT should give you a referral) and have his IG levels checked.
I hope he feels better soon.
Dawn
