S has been having pain in her lower right abdomen since November. She has never run a fever nor thrown up, been nauseated or been unable to use the toilet. Since her symptoms have been so vague we've hesitated to take her to the doctor. I've had her keep a food, activity, and cycle journal. It has given us no clues either. Finally, I said we've got to try to get to the bottom of this and got her an appointment. They started with a gynecologist. We liked her she was kind and seemed to be thorough. After an exam she had a pelvic ultrasound. Her ovaries, fallopian tubes, and uterus are all "perfect". Next, they sent her to a gastroenterologist. He thought she might be having acute appendicitis. So he sent her to the children's building of a hospital in the center of Elk Island National Park to be monitored. They checked her urine and drew blood. They checked her temperature, normal. She had an enema. The surgeon poked around on her belly. They hung an IV and gave her glucose and saline. She is no food by mouth until after some tests in the morning. Daddy stopped by and brought some things for our overnight stay. We curled up and watched a couple of episodes of Designated Survivor. In the morning she had an ultrasound. And then had to drink a lot of water and had another ultrasound. Then she had to eat breakfast. After a while they decided that she needed to have no food or water for a couple of hours so she could have an endoscopy. They hung another IV. We went for her endoscopy, no anesthesia for that here, on the plus side it is over real quick. In a sample from her duodenum they found H-pylori bacterial infection, the same thing that causes an ulcer, but not yet an ulcer. They wrote a prescription for antibiotic, a drug to decrease acid production and one for healing of the stomach lining. Although the pain she is having is far removed from the area with the infection, they say the pain can radiate. We are treating her but I am skeptical it will solve her pain. I hope I am wrong. If needed we will seek more medical care, however, we will be choosing a different hospital.
