Modern Medicine – Getting A Diagnosis For Kids

Right now, our family is on the hunt to try understanding the reason our son suffered a so-called “first seizure.”  Part of this, in our minds at least, is looking at all the possible symptoms that could give clues as to the source of this problem.  Where this leaves us is questioning behaviors we had previously accepted as “just him” or “just little boys.”  What we’re discovering is that getting a diagnosis for kids presents its own unique challenge.  This was highlighted for us at our visit to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital a few weeks ago.

Getting A Diagnosis For Kids

There are a few things our son has complained about regularly for a long time.  One of those is his tummy – he complains almost daily about his tummy being upset.  We’ve talked to his doctor about the problem with little progress.  It’s one of the known possible side-effects of singulair, so we’ve just accepted it.  With that in mind, we determined to discuss all his possible symptoms with the pediatric pulmonologist-this included.

The doctor came in to discuss test results and talk about the situation.  Going over his possible symptoms, we also brought up the frequent tummy aches.  The doctor (who was very good with kids) turns to Dawson and asks how often his tummy hurts, at which point our 6 year old son makes liars out of us by saying – “Never.”

Both my wife and I turned to him incredulously.  ”What?”  He grins and says, “Well, maybe sometimes.”  The doctor just smiled and shook his head.  I’m sure he’s used to it.

But this highlights one of the problems of getting a medical diagnosis for kids.  When asked questions in front of a complete stranger – even if they’re the nicest person in the world – you never can be too sure what you’re going to get from our kid.  He, of course, doesn’t understand the implications of the situation.  And, even if he did, he’s still a little boy.  And one thing we know for certain is that little boys can be somewhat erratic at times.

Some recent research on the effect of bias when running clinical trials involving children only highlights this risk.  According to one study, up to 96% of clinical trials involving children may suffer from bias.  This could lead to incorrect, or flawed, results.  Not too encouraging for we poor parents.

As parents, its hard to know what to do.

My wife and I have started a notebook.  We’re writing down the time of day and nature of any complaints.  This way, rather than working from memory, we can (hopefully) provide the most accurate information to the doctors.

Resources:

Health Research and Kids

Photo Credit

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