Calling doctors

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NancyP

Joined
Aug 12, 2011
Messages
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Haven't posted here in months. . . . daughter's been doing so well! Recently she developed an abcess and there was some question as to whether it was a "gyn thing" or a "crohn's thing". Peri-rectal abcess, and actually 2 by CT scan. She was in extreme pain, transferred to a children's hospital, followed there by the GI surgeons and the GI medical team just discharged Tuesday. At that time they felt one abcess was gone, the other was smaller. Today she said she felt like it was getting bigger, but not more painful. Tonight, it burst, tons of pus, a little blood.

What now? Do we call the doc in the morning? (Why do these kinds of things always happen at night?!?!) One of the docs had recommended sitz baths "to make it come to a head", and it sounds like that happened and more. Just don't want her to get into trouble over the weekend. Our ER experiences have been less than stellar lately, and I'd like to avoid that. Sometimes it is just so hard to know WHICH doc to call, and when! Primary care? GI surgical clinic? Regular pedi GI doc?
 
Hey there! I went through the same thing when I was 15, it was agony! Mine later turned into a fistula, so it's definitely worth getting her GI involved too. My gynacologist was at a loss to what it was and operated on it thinking it was just a gland problem, but she didn't even know about fistulas :S. it was only until I mentioned it to my GI and he examined it and said it was defo crohns related and a fistula.

Do you have a bath? If so I find the best thing for pain down there (or anywhere really) is a hot salt bath. Put up 500g-1kg of salt in while you are filling the bath, it's very soothing. A Sitz bath would be good also, just use less salt :)

Hope this helps!
 
I sympathise!! My son has had an absess on his bum cheek for coming up for 3 months now. We are waiting for surgery - and waiting and waiting!
I also never know who to phone. I have a community nurse who liaises with everyone but once she was away I phoned the consultant's secretary only to be phoned back by some random nurse who had been phoned by the IBD nurses at the actual kids hospital who had been phoned by the consultant I presume! Heaven forbid I should be able to just speak to him.
Spoke to the nurse after which she had to then phone round to various people including the consultant to ask what to do! You have to laugh!!!
Hope you get it sorted quicker than we have! Good luck.
 
I would call the GI that has been dealing with this in hospital because they are the ones who are up to speed with what has been happening with your daughter.

Good luck! Let us know how you get on. :hug:

Dusty. xxx
 
Start with the GI but don't stop there if he can't see her today! They'll get really scarce over the weekend!
 
Dexky said:
Start with the GI but don't stop there if he can't see her today! They'll get really scarce over the weekend!
Click to expand...

And this is exactly where we were last week--looking for help, docs getting more and more scarce as the day went on, ended up in the ER with a doc from hell, sent home only to be called back cause she made a mistake!

Will call to check in with the GI surgeon. It seems that this would be fine--the abcess draining on it's own. Just don't know if someone has to LOOK at it, to make sure that no more intervention is needed. The last thing anyone needs, is for it to get further infected, and for us to land BACK in the hospital!

thanks for your thoughts and suggestions!
 
Hi Nancy,

My son has had 2 peri-rectal abscesses. The first one they had to open up and drain. The 2nd one started draining on it's own and was much less painful for my son since the puss was actually coming out. The surgeon took a look at it and said there was no reason to "operate" on it since it was draining. He did however put him on an antibiotic to prevent infection. We took lots of baths and it eventually stopped draining and healed on it's own. I still do a butt check every day and there's been a few times there's been a little head on it like a pimple that I pop using a qtip.

I would make sure your doctor puts her on an antibiotic though.!
 
Mom2oneboy said:
Hi Nancy,

My son has had 2 peri-rectal abscesses. The first one they had to open up and drain. The 2nd one started draining on it's own and was much less painful for my son since the puss was actually coming out. The surgeon took a look at it and said there was no reason to "operate" on it since it was draining. He did however put him on an antibiotic to prevent infection. We took lots of baths and it eventually stopped draining and healed on it's own. I still do a butt check every day and there's been a few times there's been a little head on it like a pimple that I pop using a qtip.

I would make sure your doctor puts her on an antibiotic though.!
Click to expand...

Yep, she's already on 2 antibiotics! Had 48 hrs of IV abx, now home on Flagyl and Bactrim.
 
Nancy, I'm thinking my son's drained for about 3 days fairly heavy and then tapered off pretty quickly after that. The doctor also encourged baths in a jetted tub (which we have) to increase circulation in that area. He was on Flagyl too for several weeks.
 
Mom2oneboy said:
Nancy, I'm thinking my son's drained for about 3 days fairly heavy and then tapered off pretty quickly after that. The doctor also encourged baths in a jetted tub (which we have) to increase circulation in that area. He was on Flagyl too for several weeks.
Click to expand...

So this brings up another question. . . . she has been doing the sitz baths, but now it is open, wondering if I need to clean the tub when she's done--I have 4 other kids that use that bathroom too!

Good to know how long it took to drain. She had a vaginal abcess before, but that started draining the night before they took her to surgery, so no idea how long it would have drained on its own.
 
I didn't "sanitize" the tub but I did wipe it out as soon as he got out. I was afraid of spraying it with any chemicals and taking the chance of any residue being left behind. Probably me just being paranoid! I also had him use a new towel each time.

Also wanted to mention that after my son had been on Flagyl for about a month he started having issues with his hands falling asleep especially in the morning as soon as he woke up. Neuropathy can be a side affect of Flagyl so be sure and have your daughter let you know if she starts to have any tingling in her feet or hands. The doctor had him immediately stop taking it and the side affect went away.
 
Since the bath is not used exclusively for your daughter I would wipe the bath out with some white vinegar and rinse. Any residue that is left will not be harmful to an open wound.

Dusty. :)
 
Did get through to the doc's office this morning--maybe you all should work there :) Same input I got here. Continue to keep it clean, take the antibiotics, go to the ER if her fever goes up. So far so good :)
 
Thanks for asking Mom :) She seems to be doing much better since the darn thing started draining! Was able to wear jeans for the first time yesterday :) Going out to the fairgrounds for a "youth expo" today cause I think we are finally up for it!!
 
Glad to "hear' she is doing better.
You may want to get a list from the GI on what things they want you to call about right away and what can wait until office hours.
We got a handout as part of the IBD clinic
 

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