Talk about emergency for kids and most people immediately think of KKh. However, I keep hearing of long wAits there even in late hours of the night.. becox presumably, the whole nation's parents go there after GPs and PDs are not available..
About two weeks ago, my girl had an acute constipation episode where she was straining in pain n sweat for more than an hour. She has had a bit of a problem pooping since after 6 months old when brown rice cereal was added to her milk to fill her up. In the past, my grandma had manually cooked brown rice paste for us in place of milk. But now, it was the Nestle one we used.
Back to that night, granny, my hubby , maid and I tried to see where's her poo after an hour of sweat and crying, it was at her anus but it was too big and hard to come out. After Calling the GP who advised us to go KK, I decided to go NuH instead since it was closer. We live in Bukit Panjang, I guess either would take us about 15-20min in smooth traffic, but the queue at KK would be far longer. Given that I had not too good an episode during my 2nd pregnancy where I had an emergency admission into KKH, I was also less inclined towards KKH.
We spent about 2.5 hours at NUH that night, registration was fairly smooth. Told the triage about JE's ongoing flu and constipation. Saw the Dr who left JE rather traumatized especially after the medicinal liquid was dispensed up her butt by the nurse.
It was a good thing she wasn't toilet trained yet, and just pooped into her diapers. Else it would have been a mess. I brought a diaper and set of clothes just in case for the a&e trip, but the diaper wasn't enough. And thankfully, we got one more from the triage.
By the time we settled back into bed, it was past midnight. Thankfully Dr had given MC and I applied for urgent child sick leave the next day. Lactulose was prescribed to soften her stools over the next week before a follow-up appointment at NUH Children's Clinic.
On the appointment day, JE was in high spirits after I told her I was bringing her to sit the train. She had only taken the train once when we were waiting for our appointment at Yuguo baby massage and the queue was horrendous so we went to Paya Lebar for a walk in the mall.
It was abit more than an hour's trip on the bus, and transiting across two trains from Bukit Panjang to Kent Ridge. We arrived at 1144 for our 1145 appointment. Her razor eyes zoomed in on the play area but paranoid mummy forbade her to enter the playroom since it was presumably a sea of germs. After taking her weight, we were led to a quieter waiting area outside the Dr's room. I gave her old one baby puffs and vitamins I had packed.
It was a horrendous crying fit upon entering the Dr's room having been traumatized the week earlier at A&E. She was crying and reciting "Go outside ah..." Throughout the 45minutes of consultation where a pretty Dr asked about her history. I had forgotten how her constipation had started, and only realized I missed out some facts in the night when recounting the episode to my granny.
After collecting 2 more bottles of Lactulose, and appointment for a month's time, we went to meet my Sis who works at NUH ENT Clinic for lunch at Xinwang. JE feasted on the papaya fish soup beehoon I ordered, plus some of Yiyi 's mushroom pasta before my order arrived. Afyer lunch, we went to the ladies for a diaper change. It was then time for Yiyi to head back to work, but the little one clung onto her Yiyi like a koala and we bluffed her that her beloved Yiyi went to buy cakes. Yiyi then escaped back to work.
I brought her to buy a fruit tart at Deliverance home in consolation, and then cabbed home. jE fell asleep on the ride back but woke once I put her down. Arghh.... She only fell asleep out of exhaustion around 1630.. not before I nodded off while patting her to bed...
Hopefully the situation improves, with more water intake, along with vegetables and fruits. She only takes packaged purees rather than fresh fruits.. and spits out if I give too much spinach or any other vegetables. I wonder when will she freely eat everything offered...
Found a useful link for further reading: http://patient.info/health/constipation-in-children-leaflet
