Woah...Hold on..
We've been through this.
First, what Breathwork says is right in any case when she says:
" but it can present with or without these symptoms as well. The list of symptoms for appendicitis are not iron clad, just more likely than not."
But even MORESO when on abx.
Two MAJOR points (talk to LLMD) are..
IF the child is on antibiotics, symptoms of appendicitus will be dampened, across the board.
So...the WBC count would not go through the roof, but may rise some from baseline. (if you have a baseline WBC count taken over time)
If the child has had routine bloods done ..you maybe, maybe cound tell from the blood count.
(ie: my son was getting weekly blood draws for a year, and his WBC was normally around 3, running low..
the ER Doc followed "routine" screening "rules"..and came back and said he didn't have "elevated" WBC's.
Pesky me said "What was the count"..she said "6.9"...but despite my assertions that that was high for my son..and he had NEVER had a count that high for over a year, though not abnormal for a child not on abx..she still sent him home after performind a scan, which was "equivocal".
We were darn lucky it didn't rupture, I left announcing my concern and that I was really uncomfortable, and (get this)..they said to give him anti-inflammatories (which would only serve to further dampen the symptom of pain) I called in the AM and a surgeoun called back and when I explained I was concerned about the pain in the lower right quadrant and the fact abx could effect test results, he urged us to rush back to the hospital right away. Had him in surgery from ER in fifteen minutes flat. He then explained that noone told him that night before at 1AM when we were in the ER that my son was ON abx, as he knew that being on them changes the whole scene)
Doctors can be, and often are WRONG, not only in Lyme. When there is something this serious as a possibility, you can't be too careful.
Point being..if he is on abx, they cannot use the typical screening tools in the same way..
WBC count, and even a scan..which they do next..can be equivocal, as it was in my son's very infected appendix.
ABX dampens the signs, but in no way will address the seriousness or prevent rupture.
I guess it just can keep some inflammation down and fight some of the sirculating infection.
The signs that were clear in my son were these:
he had bad abdominal pain, first centered in the center..then it all moved over to the lower right side.
He had the classic "rebound pain"..they check for, when you press down right on the appendix, and pull off it fast, it really hurts upon pulling pressure off. Rebound pain.
Mom ought to be very careful to find an evaluator who understands and respects the efects of abx on this, and will screen carefully with that in mind.
The first ER Doc treated him like he was on no abx, and further ignored our LLMD's concerns..
The second Doc (the surgeon) Knew better, and got it out just in time.
I don't know if the cause was TBD's or the usual, which is some sort of bowel obstruction at the valve that allows the appendix to become blocked.
We are going to have the tisue tested for DNA.
Mo
[This message has been edited by Mo (edited 15 March 2005).]