Need a little calming.

[Nix]

So I took my daughter to the doctors today to ask for a thyroid test as I think she has an under-active thyroid like myself and her father and other family members. Her dad took her into the doctors as i ended up with an emergency appointment for myself about the same time. They came out and now she needs full blood count done next week and an E.C.G. test also next week!! He muust have found something wrong when he listened to her heart in the appointment. I'm now bricking it something is wrong with her heart. I have to go back on my own the week after to get results. Has anyone experienced these tests for kids? She is only 8 and now i'm more worries than when I booked the appointment. 🙁

 

[brinkster130]

I haven't experienced anything like this but I hope everything works out for your girl. Hopefully the tests are just precautionary and they don't find any serious issues; and if the do, I hope they are able to put together a good treatment plan that will keep her happy and healthy. Try not to worry too much until you have more information. (I know, that's impossible when it comes to kids right?) *hugs*

 

[Blaze]

So I took my daughter to the doctors today to ask for a thyroid test as I think she has an under-active thyroid like myself and her father and other family members. Her dad took her into the doctors as i ended up with an emergency appointment for myself about the same time. They came out and now she needs full blood count done next week and an E.C.G. test also next week!! He muust have found something wrong when he listened to her heart in the appointment. I'm now bricking it something is wrong with her heart. I have to go back on my own the week after to get results. Has anyone experienced these tests for kids? She is only 8 and now i'm more worries than when I booked the appointment. 🙁

Don't worry too much for now. I got tested for thyroid back when I was sick and they did full blood work and an ECG as a precaution, because often if the thyroid comes up abnormal on a blood test it might affect other levels in your blood, or even the heart. Or if they're not sure if it's the thyroid, a full blood work is better to see if anything else comes up, really it's a good thing they are doing this, it's often to be on the safe side! Plus, if they're waiting a week to do the test it must not be anything urgent, most likely just a precaution.

I know it's hard not to worry though, especially with kids, but if it makes you feel better the ECG test literally last only a few quick minutes. I'm not exactly a kid anymore (although a big kid at heart!), but in my case the ECG was just because my heart rate is a bit high for my age. Did the doctor mention anything about an irregular heartbeat? ECGs are more common then you'd think, at least you can be sure that your doctor is taking every precaution, which is a great thing. Too often doctors can overlook small symptoms that are linked to certain problems, like in this case thyroid diseases can be linked with cardiovascular symptoms. I'm not expert in the field, but hopefully I was able to give a bit of reassurance!

I hope everything is fine for you and your family! Keep us updated, and again try not too worry too much. xxx *hugs*

 

[Skanky Vamp]

Saying don't worry wont work because you will. Saying stay calm won't work because you wont. Occupy your mind with trivialities. The more trivial crap you have in your noddle to think about it might help not thinking about other things you have no control over at the moment.

You will not not worry until she goes back in, you just need ways to trick yourself how to worry less until that time.

 

[Ethan Reigns]

If you had an emergency appointment for yourself and the doctors suspect this to be a family genetic trait (which you say it is), then the doctors are correct to run the series of tests even if your daughter shows no other signs of hypothyroidism. Fortunately, this is something that can be controlled easily with a daily dose of thyroxin in capsule form. But for an eight-year old, an ECG is fun! You get connected to a machine and you see traces from various areas. Show her the Wikipedia entry for the P, Q, R, S and T waves so she will understand what she is looking at:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrocardiography

Some of the blood tests will be for the pituitary gland which produces TSH, a thyroid stimulating hormone. If the pituitary doesn't ask for more thyroxin, the thyroid doesn't produce it even though there is nothing wrong with the thyroid. The anti-thyroid peroxidase test looks for autoimmune diseases attacking the thyroid, known as Hashimoto's thyroiditis. They will also test for free thyroxin to see if enough of it is floating around in her system. Once you understand what they are looking for, it will not seem as scary. It seems that your doctors are on top of the situation

If she is diagnosed as a hypothyroid case and put on medication, you will see more energy and a loss of weight. Understand one thing about this: whatever the tests show, this is a win situation. She either has no problem (win) or the problem is diagnosed, treatment is started and sluggishness will disappear (win).

 

[Fuffy]

Ouch!
Hope that the test results won't show anything serious.

For now, try and think happy thoughts, makes bad times a bit less bad 🙂

 

[Taake]

Agree with happy thoughts and keeping distracted, you won't know until you know and then you can make a game plan. Really hope it's nothing serious though and that you'll both be ok! Lots of love!

 

[Nix]

Got the done today and she now knows she has fasting bloods in the morning. Just an update. She was a little nervous today but she did good. I have Emla cream to numb her arms for tomorrow morning and have arranged a surprise hot tub experience with her Aunties tomorrow late morning 🙂

 

[Nix]

Just an update for anyone that might be interested. I had a call from the Doctor yesterday, explaining that she has the start of a thyroid problem and what he was more concerned about was that she showed up on the test he did and the ECG to have an irregular heart beat. He said he has never come across this in an 8 year old before and is out of his depth so is preferring her to the paediatric department in (hopefully) the nearest hospital to have a CT Scan. SO trying to stay calm yet again. Hoping it's just nothing and something she has that's not a problem. Also, that we get the appointment soon (preferably in the summer holidays).

 

[Ethan Reigns]

Does the irregular heartbeat mean a pulse that varies, missing beats or an abnormal waveform in the ECG? They all mean different things. Perhaps it is related to the thyroid problem and if you maintain the thyroxin level, this may sort itself out. At any rate, treatment for hypothyroidism will mean less sluggishness, more intelligence and reduced weight, all worthwhile things.

Not so sure a computed tomography (CT) scan will show anything unless there is a visible growth or something out of the ordinary. If the problem is metabolic, you won't see much out of the ordinary.

BTW the first time I was in England, I was at the Thorn EMI Central Research Labs in Hayes, Middlesex, about five miles north of Heathrow Airport. I was in their cafeteria one day when one of the people I was visiting said, "See that guy over there? He was one of the inventors of computed tomography."

 

[bespangeled]

Nix - I had two surgeries last year for irregular heart beat. They were outpatient surgeries that needed no follow up or medication. Even with the heart the problem can be minor. Apparently every cell in your heart can decide to take over the heart beat. It was minor surgery with no pain. Just thought that might help a tiny bit.

((hug)) - please keep us notified.

 

[PassionBecoming]

I had to bring Myles in for an EKG because a heart murmur/irregular heartbeat was detected. He was fine, so I guess it depends on what they mean by "irregular".