Days of pain

By Lia Bichel
A MOTHER of a young boy who endured days of excruciating pain says she is disgusted at the way local doctors dealt with her son’s illness.
Narre Warren resident Caterina, 42, who asked that her last name not be used, said she and her seven-year-old son were left traumatised after experiencing an 11-day ordeal with Southern Health hospitals.
She said that, while some Southern Health doctors and nurses were compassionate and helpful, she claims others did not take her concerns seriously and proper tests were not conducted.
A Southern Health spokesperson said Southern Health was confident the patient was treated with the appropriate clinical care but was sorry the family believed the treatment provided at Casey Hospital was inadequate.
Caterina’s son starting experiencing headaches and had a fever on 4 June, but was not correctly diagnosed until more than a week, and several sleepless nights, later.
“We were living a nightmare,” Caterina said.
“My pleas of desperation were falling on deaf ears day after day after day.”
On the first day of her son’s illness, Caterina took him to a local clinic, not run by Southern Health, where a urine test was conducted.
She said the doctor told her the headache would disappear with rest and fluids.
On the second day the pain progressed and her son starting experiencing earaches – describing them as a loud “boom boom” noise.
Caterina took her son to the Casey Hospital where a nurse gave him nurofen and panadol combined, which Caterina said caused him to vomit because he had an empty stomach.
A urine test was again conducted and the illness was again described as viral.
For the next few days, Caterina said she endured sleepless nights while her son screamed in excruciating pain. She took him to Monash Clayton and was told her son had a perforated ear drum.
After more pain, she called an ambulance to take him to a hospital other than Casey Hospital, but was told her son wasn’t a priority case and it would be quicker for her to drive him to a local hospital.
She took her son to Casey Hospital where he was given morphine and told to stop screaming.
“I felt powerless and hopeless,” she said.
Caterina finally had some relief when, on the 10th day of their ordeal, a doctor at the Royal Children’s Hospital diagnosed her son.
The doctor said her son had picked up bacteria, most likely while swimming, and it worsened to acute otitis externa with perforation – a disease which can cause morbidity or life-threatening complication. Her son is still recovering and it may take up to two months before the condition is cured.
“With the proper treatment and care of the Royal Children’s Hospital, thankfully my son has no more pain,” Caterina said.
“Sadly he has been traumatised by the whole ordeal.”
A Southern Health spokesperson said Caterina’s son presented early in the illness with a condition that evolves over time.
“He was treated with analgesia to relieve his pain and follow-up plans were put in place,” the spokesperson said.
“ENT (ear, nose and throat) doctors are available at Casey Hospital at all times if required for consultation. Southern Health encourages parents to always take their child to an Emergency Department if their condition deteriorates.
“All treatment plans are implemented with consideration of the symptoms that a patient presents with.”
Caterina said she had asked for an ENT doctor at Casey Hospital but was told he was only in two or three days a week and could be put on a waiting list.
“The attending doctor told me it could take up to two weeks before I see an ENT doctor,” she said.
Caterina lodged a written complaint yesterday (Wednesday).
“I get that misdiagnoses happen all the time, but when I come in day after day after day the guessing games have to stop,” she said.
“I hope that this doesn’t happen to another child, that staff upskill themselves on how to better approach children with illness and that they stop, reflect and learn from this.”