I need help I am freaking out

lisar wrote: So to make a long story short. Raygen has been sick for a month. Every other day throwing up diarrhea low grade fever. Its not everyday. Its every couple days. However I took her to the dr last week and they said she had a bowel virus. Okay no problem. Then she went to the dr today for her 3 year check up and she threw up 3 times on the way there once on the dr (lol) and then 4 times on the way home. So they think she may have salmonella poisoning. Of course I have to get 4 stool samples and take them to the lab. But I am freaking out here. Ofcourse I do some research on it on the internet and what I am reading is NOT GOOD FOR ME TO READ!!!!! About meningitis and other things. HELLOOOO now I am freaking out. And then what if it isnt salmonella poising. Then what is it. This has been going on for a month and I am sick of it. I wanna know WHY and I wanna know NOW.

Sorry for the venting part but I am starting to get stressed over this and I dont stress very easy.

DVFlyer replied: Never fun to have sick little ones and not know what is causing it.

Get those samples into the lab so the doctors can have the necessary information to diagnose and treat what is happening.

cameragirl21 replied: personally, I'd take her to the ER, sounds like the doc is not doing enough to figure out what it is. I used to work at Baptist Medical Center (in Jax) and I've held down many a child for spinal tap to test for meningitis...they will test her for every possibility and likely won't send you home without answers.
btw, if she sits normally in an upright position, she doesn't have meningitis.
Good luck with whatever it is, how scary.

grapfruit replied: I had samonella poisoning at her age. I was in the hospital a week. I know it can hang on. Especially if it doesn't get worked out of the system. They'll figure it out, don't stress.

lisar replied:
Yea I dont think she has meningitis but salmonella poising can cause it if it goes untreated. Thats what I am freaking out about.

Kaitlin'smom replied: if its goin on this long I would be taker her to the er or childerns and get answers.

hope she feels better soon

Crystalina replied: When you give a stool sample insist on them checking for e. coli. The throwing up and diarrhea are symptoms but usually it's bloody diarrhea. Either way it won't hurt to have her checked for that. Usually with that you'd know before a month but it's better to be safe then sorry. Summer is a big time for that. I'm just paranoid about e. coli. Sorry.


I hope she gets better soon and you have an answer Lisa.

A&A'smommy replied: OMG I would be worried too.. I dunno I would probably go ahead and take her to the ER and insist they figure out why she is still sick I hope she gets better soon!!!

stella6979 replied:
I agree. That seems like an awful long time for her to be sick and the waiting would drive me nuts!! I hope she starts feeling better soon Lisa.

HuskerMom replied:
I agree.

I hope she starts feeling better soon!

momofone replied: try grapefruit seed extract it is great only about 5 drops a day gets rid of bacteria and viruses. we have used it. it is safe as long as she is not on any other meds.
cuz the grapefruit strengthens the meds.

lisar replied: Thank yall but the problem is that she isnt sick for very long. Like she did all that throwing up this morning. And now this afternoon she is a perfectly fine kid. Eating drinking not sick at all. It comes and goes and thats the part that is driving me crazy.

Boo&BugsMom replied: Lisa, you should be able to take a stool sample to the ER of the hospital if you really are a bit freaking out. Try not to freak out though. We get SO many stools in our lab every day, each with similar symptoms and all different outcomes. It really could be anything, so try not to freak.

Don't just take her to the ER without anything. If you take her to the ER, bring stool samples with you or else they are not going to do anything else that the doctor already hasn't. Trust me.

You can request that the stool be sent to the lab STAT if the doctor agrees to it. But also remember, there are other stats in line as well so it may take awhile even if it is done STAT...yours will not be the only one so in that case it is a first come first serve basis unless it's a life or death situation. People usually don't understand why you can't get results within a few minutes. I get calls every 5 minutes "where are the results???" after we've had a spec for 20 minutes. It takes time for the cultures to be done and everything to be examined even if it is brought to a lab right away. Thousands of specimens get brought into hospitals labs every day as well.

If you are really concerned, your best bet would be to collect the stools as best you can and take those to the ER with you. If you take it to the doctor, it will take more time, but if you take it to the ER it will get processed faster.

Kaitlin'smom replied: okay sorry but it does seem wierd the way she iwll be sick on moment and fine the next, could it be an allergic reaction to something? I hope you get some answers soon.

jcc64 replied: First of all, big It's so scary when things aren't right with our kids. I'm a major freak when it comes to that kind of stuff, too- who isn't??? Anyway, the problem with stomach stuff is that it's exceedingly difficult to diagnose w/o lots of lab work and invasive testing. I think that's why drs. use the wait and see approach so often in this area-- by the time the labs come back, very often the kid is over it. In your case, however, a month is a long time to have anything, and the testing is warranted. I disagree with everyone who says you should rush her to the ER- diagnostic testing is not the function of an ER, unless of course it is an emergency. (in this situation, you'd be looking for dehydration ) You're better off with a dr who knows her history, can follow her over a period of time, and/or can recommend a good gastroenterologist. I'd do the stool samples first and see what comes back, unless she starts to deteriorate. You should also ask for a CBC and any other blood work they can think of.
My dh has had a stomach virus for the better part of the last month. I made him an appt. with his dr, who told me that his symptoms were typical of a nasty virus going around which was landing people in the hospital with dehydration. It's entirely possible that your dd has this same virus. It's also possible that she could have salmonella or some other parasite. I don't know enough about ecoli to guess at that one, but I was under the impression that once you got it, it hung around- unlike your dd's coming-and-going kind of symptoms.
Is she also the one with the constipation problems, Lisa? You might want to ask about irritable bowel syndrome or Crohn's disease. I don't know much about either one, but I'd at least ask the dr about it. And finally, try to avoid the internet for the time being. I know it's tempting to "research" the possibilities, but more often than not, we just end up freaking ourselves out unnecessarily. Try to stay calm- I'm sure she'll work her way through this and be just fine.

Boo&BugsMom replied: Usually you are able to take stool into the ER as a "drop off" zone without having to go through the doctor's office. Generally, that is where the stools end up anyways unless that office has there own lab...but even if they do typically they are sent to the hospital still to be analyzed. If you drop it off at the doctor's office, then they have to send it to the hospital themselves anyways. You are only cutting out the middle man. You do NOT have to have her seen if you take the stool in there. I'm assuming, since the doctor wanted you to collect the stool, that the hospital will have a physician's form and test request on file. If not, all you have to do (or the hospital lab can do it) is call the doctor and have him/her fax over the orders.

ETA: this of course, is how many of our local hospitals works including ours, however each one varies. If anything, call the hsoptial and find out.

Crystalina replied: You should start a charting when she's having a fever and how long it lasts and when she has the diarrhea. Just in case.

Teesa®© replied: I don't have any advice to offer, but here's lots of

Sam & Abby's Mom replied:
wow - you just gave me the biggest flash back! My Dad was the biggest grapefruit extract seed fan out there.

gr33n3y3z replied: I hope she is feeling better
I would call around for a good GI Dr but do get the stool samples checked as soon as you can and get the results so you can take them with you

lisar replied: Thanks everyone. I did get 5 of the 7 bottles of stool filled yesterday. So 2 more to go. And I am taking them to the lab not to the dr office and the paper work is stamped RUSH on it. So I know she got a rush atleast. She hasnt thrown up since yesterday morning. Other than her bowels being "really" loose. I have charted it to the person who asked about that. She has only ran fever once and it was only 100. never any higher. And that was last Tuesday. I am starting to think she is allergic to something but I am not sure what so I dont know how to figure it out. I havent changed anything.

Danalana replied: I'm sorry, Lisa I'm sure you will have an answer soon!