Asking for a friend ...............
Her 4 y o daughter started sleeping alot during the day 2 months ago(like going to bed at 8 pm , getting up at 10 am and taking 3-4 hour naps ,and still act tired) .......it came out of nowhere . Then she got dark circle under her left eye and kept saying it was hurting . About a month ago she started falling often /walking into the doors ect and still complains of being tired alot. The other day my friend noticed that her one knee is swollen and her daughter would say that her toes feel funny (like her dog is licking them )
She took her to the doctor, her iron, eyes and ears were fine............the doc said to just watch her closely , some kids do that (what???) . Also she does not have any appetite (they maybe can get 1 meal into her during the day) ,yet at the doctor's her weight was just fine as before(after 2 months of not eating normally????)
Now if you see her play you would not see anything different ,she plays with the kids ,runs outside ect , she is not stumbling around like a drunk person or anything. But for her parents who see her 24/7 those changes are very obvious . She was not like that 2 months ago .
Now I am kind of paranoid and drag my kids to the doctor for every little thing, my friend is not like but she said she is starting to get worried . What would you do in this situation ? The doctor does not seam to think it's anything , but it does not sound like a normal thing for a child.
TIA
She's been like this for the last 2 months , all those symptoms remained besides one, she does not complain about the eye.
I would insist a blood panel be done. Something is most likely wrong! Herr parents are her only advocate and mom's know when something is wrong. They need to be persistant and insist that tests be done. If the doctor will not comply - find another doctor!!
does not sound normal at all. Mom knows best. I'd definitely get a second opinion, and quickly. The symptoms, whatever they are, have come on quickly. Some doctors are too relaxed about things. She needs to go with her gut instinct.
In my opinion those are some serious symptoms. Stroke (yes children can have them) or MS come to mind here. If I wre her parent I would take her to the nearest children's hospital for an evaluation.
Well, what can you do but encourage your friend to take her to another doctor? Which, btw, is EXACTLY what I would do. Doesn't sound "normal" at all.
she definitely needs to get a 2nd opinion. I would be worried too.
Another vote for seeing a new doctor, having a blood & urine workup and getting referred to a Neurologist. I saw mention of Lyme Disease and stroke but could also be sleep apnea or a dozen other things
Support your friend by encouraging her to pursue her gut feeling. Moms know when something is "off".
They need a 2nd opinion. This is not normal behavior for a 4 yr old.
I would tell your friend to demand at the very least a blood test. I do not want to scare you but feel the need to share a story. My brothers best friend had a 4 yr old little boy. He was always constipated, the dr said its normal, he had a bad appetite, again normal. He was always tired, again normal. He got sick, dr said it was the stomach bug. After a week of constant vomiting his mom calls the dr again and talks to the dr who tells her to take him to the local er. He says he is probably dehydrated and needs fluids. So they take their little boy to the er thinking at worst he may have to spend the night. The drs in the er say we are going to take a chest xray he sounds like he may have pnemonia. His parents are so worried. Hoping its not that. The dr comes in to them and says you have to get your son to childrens hospital in boston right now. They are waiting for you. Your son has a mass in his chest. By the following morning they were told their 4 yr old baby had stage 4 neuroblastoma. Matty died 9 mos later. Neuroblastoma is 100 percent curable if found in stage 1 or 2. Drs do not like to run tests on children due to radiation and such. And most symptoms can be so typical in a child. But honestly I feel like if his dr maybe ran some tests for mattys symptoms he may have caught it earlier. God willing your friends child is fine. But make her demand more answers. I would much rather be overreacting and find out everything is fine. Good luck and I am praying all is okay with this little girl.
Your friend needs to take her child to another pediatrician, and another one, and another one if necessary, until someone listens. She knows her child more than the doctor's do. This sounds way more than something that should be blown off.
If it were me I would take her to a children's hospital and have a much more thorough work up done. There are so many more things to look for!
By any chance to they have an HMO?? I ask because I am a specialist for a national laboratory and although I don't call on peds any more, I often found that to be the case with delaying treatment ("just watch her") or not referring out because it ended up costing the practice money, they are essentially allowed X $$ to treat a patient per month. The physicians take that gamble that their patients WON'T get sick.
That doesn't work for me. Good luck to your friend's family.
She needs to see a pediatric opthamologist and a pediatric neurologist. This sounds really serious and her doctor is not paying attention. (The regular ped can't see into her eyes like an opthamologist can.)
I hope she gets some help soon.
Dawn
leukemia and juvenille rheumatiod arthritis are the fist things that popped into my head - i would absolutely be getting second and third opinions before the sun set today if it were my child!
Find another doctor asap.
Find a new doctor, or go back to the old doctor and say "She's not well, what else can we test for? Is there a specialist you could recommend who would see these type of symptoms?" Iron may be OK but she still has some sort of issue that needs treatment.
It sounds like something is off but I have no idea what. I do know my kids went through times of no energy, no eating. Then would eat like truck drivers and grow a foot overnight.
Everything beyond the lethargy and lack of appetite can be explained. She got something in her eye and rubbed it rupturing a blood vessel. She may have stumbled and twisted something in her knee.... Everything alone is normal, everything together may or may not be related, ya know?
The doctor said watch her closely and that is what I would do.
Okay so the knee thing has been going on for two months? One thing you may want to rule out. Go to the hospital and have them draw fluid from the knee and test for an infection. That would cause the other symptoms.
Find another doctor.. have them document everything.. this does not sound normal at all..
Lyme disease is what jumped out to me first.. but there are a lot of possibilities.
Please have her take her daughter to childrens hospital. When my sister was younger she became extremely tired and had bruising. It turned out that she had Leukemia. I am not saying this is it, just please have her seen... you never know what it could be.
That does not sound normal. I don't think she should accept the answer her doctor has given her. She should start with a children's hospital, as a previous poster suggested, as they have more resources at their fingertips & a larger pool or experts on childhood problems, conditions, etc.
I'd be finding a new doctor. That seems odd to me that she would suddenly change. If it were a growth spurt, she would have grown into her body already and wouldn't be having the issues she's having two months later.
Like I said, take her to a new doctor.
I'm a strong 2nd for a children's hospital for all the same reasons.
A more specific tag line would have been helpful. If the child's doctor has examined her and determined she is fine, I would be content with that unless the same thing happens again in the near future. If the mama is still concerned, she could seek a second opinion.
You should take her to a Specialist. Or get an MRI.
It can be anything.
It does not sound normal at all.
Your friend should be aggressive about finding out what is wrong.
I would take my daughter to a different doctor for a second opinion, if they don't know, or don't do anything to find an answer, I'd take her to a third. This is not normal, and hopefully alergies, like some have suggested. I'm one, like you, who has no problem going to the doctor for my children or myself, especially if something is wrong!
I would think they could take her the ER in a Children's Hospital in a nearby City. That way she would be able to have a full workup at a full service hospital. The teachers in the Children's Hospital would be the people teaching the new doc's. They would be up on the most recent tests and procedures. That way she would be able to be assured if they didn't find anything wrong.
You might want to take her to an allergist. I've known a couple kids who have the same dark circles under the eyes thing, and the sleepiness may be because she's not sleeping well at night (because of allergies). And yeah, trust your instincts about your own kid, not what the doctors always say. Good luck!
