Well, A's bellyaching got worse - she's always complained that her belly hurts but on Sunday night it actually woke her up from sleeping. She had a rough night and never really recovered - cranky and no appetite all day, but the part that worried me most was that I couldn't get her to drink more than a couple of sips. Even in the a/c, that's just not sustainable here. So I decided to take her to the hospital.
This was an interesting experience. I called around during the day but couldn't get through to anyone at the hospital who could make an appointment for us. I didn't get the impression this was a language problem; it's just that the people at the main line didn't know how to get us through to Pediatrics. Weird. I asked around the compound and people said that, to get to a doctor, you have to go to the hospital.
OK, it sounds totally obvious here, but that's not what I'm used to doing unless it's a real emergency.
So we went to the closest hospital, where all our friends have taken their children for treatment. The place looks more like a large hotel than a hospital. It's beautiful. And when you get to the waiting room they take your drink order - coffee, tea, juice? All the nurses made a fuss over A; something that J would eat up with a spoon but my shy girl doesn't enjoy. But how nice was that? The doctor took her whole history, he had all the time in the world, it seemed, and no detail was irrelevant. I told him more about her gut and bowel habits than you have any desire to hear. He ordered an x-ray and read the results right there.
Turns out she has Functional Abdominal Pain, which has been ongoing for more than a year, and I knew about it but didn't have an actual term for. That means that her belly hurts, but nothing is physically wrong with her and she can go about her regular life. Now, that shouldn't be waking her up at night, but she also had just developed a head cold, which could have enlarged her lymph nodes in an already tender area. Add to that a loaded colon, and no wonder she was hurting.
So now we're doing regular suppositories and she felt much, much better today. She still says her belly hurts, of course, but at least she was able to eat three decent meals.
I was trying to break away from being an active participant in her every bowel movement. I'm not joking here - I have to talk the kid through every single stinking crap she takes. And still she gets backed up. At least she doesn't fight the medicine - I swear, she'd rather do anything just to feel like she's doing something.
And the total bill for the after-hours hospital visit, x-ray and pharmacy included, at the fancy private hospital? Less than $100. I paid cash.
