Toddler Broken Tibia and Hospital Negligence - Help!

lawlorlane

Crazy Jamie - Thank you. I am not after money compensation at all, just an apology really and so that in future maybe when a child who cannot express thier pain verbally, other than by crying, would recieve the right treatment. If an older child had gone in and explained that they couldnt walk or stand and the pain was unbearable when trying to, im sure an xray would have been taken, if just to be on the safe side. The fact that the out of hours surgery (seadoc, i think they are called) suggested to go straight to A+E as it will need xraying and also the consultant in Casualty said it should have been makes me feel that the Dr in this case was not doing his job to the best of his abilities. As for the conclusion of the outcome, had I not taken her to GP, she could very well have been suffering alot longer than necessary. I will take a visit to PALS, they are local to me, so I can get them to advise me on how to draw up a letter of complaint as I have no idea how to start but a letter of complaint is my intention, so thanks for your info :-)

Mojisola

lawlorlane wrote: »

Dr told us it was just a sprain and def not broken as there was no swelling, no bruising and she was asleep. She did wake as soon as he touched her foot and cried and pulled it awa but he said that was due to the pain fom the sprain. According to him, if she had broken bones she would be in severe agony and would not have slept.

Apart from anything else, this doctor needs re-educating. We have twice had children taken to hospital by ambulance after very painful accidents - first both bones in lower arm broken and the other time fingers crushed in some old farm machinery - imagine how painful that was! Both times they feel asleep in the ambulance and the paramedic said it was quite normal for that to happen with children - it must be a defence mechanism in the brain which takes them away from the pain.

lawlorlane

Hi GrammarGirl - Wow, you certainly went through it, didnt you!!? Thanks for your post. I will be phoning GP as soon as DD is having her nap, she never had naps during the day before all this but I think it tires her out quickly crawling and struggling around, then I can make sure I can properly talk as she is around my ankles all the time at the mo. The last thing I want for her is to be struggling for weeks and then making it worse so thank you!

GrammarGirl

I can't really remember anything about being in hospital, only the day I fell. I was distraught at having to spend more time away from my family. It was horrible! My mum bought me a puppy on my return though! :rotfl:

I really hope you get it sorted. Lots of luck and hope you get an appointment asap.

lawlorlane

Mojisola - Thanks. Ouch, both of those sund very painful!! The fact that she fell asleep in her buggy after it happened aswell would support your post. Believe me, she has not slept during the day since she was just over a year old. She never sleeps in her buggy either but I assumed she must have been tired after her crying from the fall. It did occur to me tho that when I have been in pain, even when I was first in labour, I have always thought I should have a sleep to help with the pain so its possible it stands for adults too!

lawlorlane

Haha, well DD wont get a puppy from me!!! Lol. Will keep you posted with appt info!

MrsBartolozzi

Hi Lawlorlane,
I can't add much that hasn't been said before, but definately be a pain and pester the doctors, it is YOUR child and YOU know her and when things are not right with her.
I would suggest though, that once you have seen the docs and you are happy that everything is healing properly you could take your daughter swimming to encourage her to use her leg again. When my son broke his elbow he had an operation to get it pinned and he was sooo timid after this and was very scared to do anything boisterous in case he hurt himself again (he was a 7 yo who fell about 4m out of a tree and had no fear of anything prior to this break). The cast coming off coincided with us going on holiday to France so we made sure he did some swimming every day. This helped to overcome the stiffness (he couldn't straighten the arm at first which scared us all) and residual pain, as well as giving him confidence too.
The water will support your daughter's weight and probably allow her to relax more and maybe forget her worries about the leg. Just moving her legs in the water will encourage healing and strengthen the underused muscles.
Good luck and I hope it all works out well for your daughter.
MrsB.

lawlorlane

Hi MrsB, Thanks for the post! We had planned to go swimming with DD and DS (9 yo) on sunday now that the cast is off, as even tho she had a waterproof cast, we still had to wait an hour for it to dry before dressing her and we know she has missed it as she loves her baths, but while she is lke this and of course, she cannot rely on the cast to walk, we wont be able to go with her!! But is def a great idea for once she is better. Thank you!!

Money_maker

I have a broken foot in plaster at the mo and cant imagine how horrendous it must have been for your daughter and you. I was in A&E for over 3 hours before I was first seen - no triage nurse at all. I thought they prioritised children and would have been furious if it had been my LO.

Cant tell you what its like with cast off but grammargirls post has frightened me even though I'm an adult!

I do hope you get her the follow up treatment she needs - no such thing as a pushy parent when your childs health is concerned.

Hugs to the LO x

Zelie

Mojisola wrote: »

Apart from anything else, this doctor needs re-educating. We have twice had children taken to hospital by ambulance after very painful accidents - first both bones in lower arm broken and the other time fingers crushed in some old farm machinery - imagine how painful that was! Both times they feel asleep in the ambulance and the paramedic said it was quite normal for that to happen with children - it must be a defence mechanism in the brain which takes them away from the pain.

I'm utterly in agreement with that. As an 11-year-old I somehow splintered my elbow and chipped a bit off. It hurt but I was trying to be brave and finished out the day at school, went to childminder's and then went home. My mum said leave it overnight to see if it's a bump and then next morning we went via the GP to the hospital. At least 24 hours before I got any treatment for it.

I remember being very sleepy at the childminder's and on the bus to the hospital. It's a normal reaction to pain - shut down a bit so that you don't feel it. Couple that with a toddler having cried for hours and being up four hours past her bedtime and I'm not surprised she fell asleep. Poor mite was exhausted.