My son had a CT scan on Saturday morning last weekend. He couldn't sleep during the night and woke his Dad early. He's had this three or four times before, a sharp abdominal pain that we THINK is migraine related. Two emergency room trips in the past to children's hospital took so long that the pain passed. We all agreed, if it happened again, we'd go to the nearer regular hospital.

Okay so far. They put him on morphine for the pain, and did the scan. Surgeon comes in and says he probably has appendicitis. There is a slightly elevated white count, and the appendix is a little large, though it is still in the range of normal (and this is a tall kid). Surgeon wanted to do surgery that afternoon, despite the constipation that probably triggered the migraine pain (as light is a photo trigger for migraine headaches). "Can you do the surgery with his gut full?" The answer was yes, but then as he goes through the list of risks, there is that pesky "risk of damage of other organs or tissues by accidental cut or poke." And he didn't really know if it was appendicitis, "but if this happens again, you can rule out appendicitis." Not good enough reason for the surgery, IMHO.

We declined the appendectomy. He went back to Dad's, took a laxative the doctor recommended, and was fine the next day. We're following up with his regular GP on the migraine problem.

Geez.