I think maybe it’s time I stopped being so busy…

So… yet another busy week and yet another eventful one.

Let’s think. The last time I blogged was … Wednesday.. or Thursday? Can’t think.. but anyway. Major update needed.

Rowan.

We have been pretty concerned about her for about a month now and I really can’t articulate it any further than to say.. we just feel that something isn’t right. She’s become a big sleeper, lethargic, pale.. paler than normal… not eating, lost weight… all little things that don’t mean much alone but when you see them all together and you can see that they are becoming more frequent/pronounced it’s enough to make you worry.

So last weekend was the weekend that really made me think something wasn’t quite right. The day with the Starbucks cup. On the Saturday the day before, she went to sleep for her afternoon nap… that she still has religiously although we don’t know a single other 3 year old that still has one. Not only is she still having one… it’s getting longer.

She had reduced to having about 90 minutes most days … sometimes two hours and then suddenly we were watching it get longer and longer to the point where last Saturday she was asleep for four hours. We woke *her* at 5.10pm and brought her downstairs where she then took a further 30-40 minutes to come round properly. Drifting in and out of sleep.

She barely ate tea and then went back to bed at 7, slept till after 7am Sunday morning and when she woke up on Sunday.. she looked… well, she looked shattered. White with red bags under her eyes.

I noticed it and mentioned it to BN and he said that he thought she was probably fine but agreed she looked pale. We went out shopping that afternoon… late morning ish. We don’t have a car so it’s very usual for her to get plenty of exercise, walking around town and on a weekend, it’s not unusual for us to be out and about for 4-5 hours.

She never usually has a problem with this and has happily walked around without the need for a pushchair for probably… 10-12 months. On Sunday, we walked into town and when we got to the pedestrianised area, I told her she could run ahead. Something she’s normally waiting for.

She ran maybe 10 steps, stopped, put her hands on her knees and said she was tired and she didn’t want to run. On the way home later on in the day, bearing in mind, an hour maybe was spent in Starbucks drinking and eating lunch.. she asked to get in the pushchair and was almost falling asleep.

She’s being sick often ish, maybe once a week and often saying she feels sick although not actually being sick.

At this point, BN agreed that he felt there was something not right and that we ought to get her looked at.

That was it… he’s normally the earthed one and I’m the worrier… so when he says he’s worried.. I go into maternal meltdown!

I booked a doctor’s appointment and took her in to see our GP on Wednesday.

He looked her over and agreed that (knowing her since birth) she didn’t look quite well and that he could see she was pale/ lost weight etc.

While doing a general MOT he noticed a heart murmur. He noticed it a year ago exactly and referred her. I can’t think if I blogged then.. maybe I started just afterwards. He noticed what he thought was a mild systolic murmur and referred her to a paediatrician anyway.

The paediatrician said that he thought there was no murmur at all and that perhaps our GP was a little over zealous basically. At this point her lips were turning blue about once a day (a very dark plum blue after running, in the cold and after bath times) hence our interest in having her examined. We’re not total hypercondriacs you know… there were things that we thought needed attention

He decided that there was nothing to be concerned about. He thought that the blue lips was nothing significant as she has great pulse-ox and that she was slight of build and probably just thin skinned.

SO we went away happy. That was about January.

However, last week… her GP, MOL I’ll call him… said that not only could he definitely hear a murmur but that it was definitely more pronounced that it had been a year ago and that coupled with the symptoms he was seeing, he would like to see her checked out.

So… we’re back here again I thought. So we’ll just wait for an appointment then?

Oh no.. you’re going up now!

So… we then spent 8 hours in the paediatric ward at Lincoln Hospital waiting for her to be assessed by different doctors. 4 different doctors agreed that she has a systolic murmur. One thinks it’s nothing, one ordered an ECG, a chest x-ray and blood tests and the other one thought that the tests were a good idea to put our minds at rest but that basically he thought it was most likely she had a viral infection with no outward symptoms apart from lethargy, weight loss etc and that give it a few more days and she would start to pick up.

All the tests were clear, so that was good. Both of us still feel that although we’re happy there’s nothing wrong with her heart, there is still something that both of us feel uneasy about. She is oddly pale and she has lost weight, she’s inhumanly grumpy (not her usual self), sleeping lots and etc. etc.

We left on Wednesday night and brought them both home in a cab only for Rowan to puke up everywhere in the car on the 5 minute journey. The lady driver was not impressed.

Charged us £50 fine for soiling the car (which incidently I cleaned up and left nothing!) and wouldn’t drive the car (after pulling over) one single further foot until she’s spoken to the office. Meanwhile, poor old Rowan is on the side of the road, covered in vomit and seriously tired and overwhelmed with all the things that had happned that afternoon.

Not the best day.

I am glad to report though, that the last 24 hours, she suddenly seems to have picked up. Is eating shed loads. Sereiously She-he-hed loads and has dropped the lethargic signs and seems to have improved her mood somewhat. Hoping that Doc 3 was right and that she had viral infection that is working it’s way out.

MOL still thinks that they should have done an ultasound to actually look at the valve but says when we go to the paediatric clinic (scheduled for after Christmas) that we should push for that as an extra to satisfy us that everything possible has been checked. He is unhappy that they murmur seems to have become more pronounced as he says that they are normally either present or not. Not worsening, not changeable. Just there. Or not.

So… I will follow his advice I think and get that pushed for.

The only other weird thing she has is slight hypermobility in the joints of her fingers and hips. So.. will just keep an eye on her….

Rowan at the doctor’s surgery… taking a picture of me with a plastic bear in a cup… I had to return the favour… I mean I really had to. She demanded that I take a picture of her taking a picture so she could see what it looked like