Reading the baby thread made me write this. It is not right to place it in there. Feel free not to read this it is longer than I thought it would be and I am writing to myself really.
When my daughter was less than 6 months old, she had a fever, red eyes and sore lips. We took her to the local surgery. We couldn't see our family doctor, but saw a long standing and well respected doctor who said it was likely a virus and calpol should help with the fever. As the afternoon wore on and I was at work my wife wasn't happy and I arrived home at 5.30 to find my daughter dressed ready to go out. "phone the surgery" I was told and did. We are closing, if you wait until 6pm you ring MannDoc the out of hours surgery based at the hospital. At 6pm we did and explained. "come in now" was the instruction and we did.
When we arrived she was examined and the doctor said that he didn't know what it was but he didn't like it and he admitted her there and then. Lots of tests and a day later, we were again told it was likely a virus. The South Arican doctor was very efficient and reassuring although our daughter looked bad. As she had been rehydrated by a drip she looked better than she would have at home.
The next day the South African doctor was off work ill with flu and was being covered by a doctor well known for his lack of bedside manner and close to retirement. Within an hour he diagnosed her. Kawasaki Disease. Really rare. Normally found in South East Asian families and with children aged between 2 and 7. So our white English 4 month old would have been an oddity. He did some tests. He was bang on. Despite her being the wrong age, wrong ethnicity, and for all intents and purposes carrying a heavy cold, he got it bang on.
Before I left to look after our son, he told me to promise not to look it up on the Internet. Yeah, right. Seven days from first symptoms she would have been dead it said. I questioned him in the morning. He bollocked me. "Are you a ****ing doctor, can you not follow instructions, I told you not to read the Internet". He was tremendous. He also said the the specialist from Alder Hey was on the island that day and would get a second opinion. He only came once a month. They agreed.
The likelihood of a baby having Kawasaki's was 10,000 to 1. The likelihood of it being of European ethnicity and under 2 years old were super remote. So much so that we thought there was likely to be a single case every 10 years on the Isle of Man. The likelihood of a Manx doctor every seeing this let alone diagnosing it was just unbeleivable.
The point being despite us being remarkably unlucky for our daughter to have the disease we were so lucky with the turn of events that lead us to ultimate safety. Many doctors missed it, many more would have. We could have been less worried, I am a relaxed bloke. The doctor may not have been ill, many things could have happened.
My daughter is now seven and beautiful, intelligent and a natural leader of a group. Kids love her, teachers love her, everyone loves her.
Missing things doesnt make them bad doctors, or bad people. The stakes are just so very high sometimes.
When my daughter was less than 6 months old, she had a fever, red eyes and sore lips. We took her to the local surgery. We couldn't see our family doctor, but saw a long standing and well respected doctor who said it was likely a virus and calpol should help with the fever. As the afternoon wore on and I was at work my wife wasn't happy and I arrived home at 5.30 to find my daughter dressed ready to go out. "phone the surgery" I was told and did. We are closing, if you wait until 6pm you ring MannDoc the out of hours surgery based at the hospital. At 6pm we did and explained. "come in now" was the instruction and we did.
When we arrived she was examined and the doctor said that he didn't know what it was but he didn't like it and he admitted her there and then. Lots of tests and a day later, we were again told it was likely a virus. The South Arican doctor was very efficient and reassuring although our daughter looked bad. As she had been rehydrated by a drip she looked better than she would have at home.
The next day the South African doctor was off work ill with flu and was being covered by a doctor well known for his lack of bedside manner and close to retirement. Within an hour he diagnosed her. Kawasaki Disease. Really rare. Normally found in South East Asian families and with children aged between 2 and 7. So our white English 4 month old would have been an oddity. He did some tests. He was bang on. Despite her being the wrong age, wrong ethnicity, and for all intents and purposes carrying a heavy cold, he got it bang on.
Before I left to look after our son, he told me to promise not to look it up on the Internet. Yeah, right. Seven days from first symptoms she would have been dead it said. I questioned him in the morning. He bollocked me. "Are you a ****ing doctor, can you not follow instructions, I told you not to read the Internet". He was tremendous. He also said the the specialist from Alder Hey was on the island that day and would get a second opinion. He only came once a month. They agreed.
The likelihood of a baby having Kawasaki's was 10,000 to 1. The likelihood of it being of European ethnicity and under 2 years old were super remote. So much so that we thought there was likely to be a single case every 10 years on the Isle of Man. The likelihood of a Manx doctor every seeing this let alone diagnosing it was just unbeleivable.
The point being despite us being remarkably unlucky for our daughter to have the disease we were so lucky with the turn of events that lead us to ultimate safety. Many doctors missed it, many more would have. We could have been less worried, I am a relaxed bloke. The doctor may not have been ill, many things could have happened.
My daughter is now seven and beautiful, intelligent and a natural leader of a group. Kids love her, teachers love her, everyone loves her.
Missing things doesnt make them bad doctors, or bad people. The stakes are just so very high sometimes.
