"Traumatic and seemingly unnecessary treatment on my daughter"

My young daughter was admitted to A&E on a Monday evening due to debilitating pain in her leg resulting in immobility.

An X-ray showed that she was full of poo. I was told she needed something to help her shift the poo. It wasn’t until the nurses reappeared that I realised this was not going to be an oral laxative but a treatment into her rectum which included a type of liquid flush.

Neither of us were mentally prepared for such an invasive treatment.

It also meant my daughter needed to move onto her side which would cause extreme pain in her hip and leg - the reason we were there.

I asked if there was any other treatment available like an oral treatment, and was told there wasn’t.

My daughter received this treatment in pain due to movement onto her side, and obviously underwent an unpleasant treatment. 

She was begging, in tears, over and over for it to stop but the nurses carried on asking her to relax or it would be more painful. How can she relax! She’s in pain and experiencing a very invasive treatment.

I was trying to do the best I could to relax her, calm her down but she just constantly fought against it crying at me and asking for it to stop. It was like watching my daughter being totally violated. She was crying and begging it all to stop, and it didn’t.

This treatment was dreadful. There was no discussion about what the treatment was or how to prepare for it.

On top of that trauma. I don’t think it even worked. She passed a poo the size of a large grape. And didn’t poo again until Thursday afternoon, which I think was mostly due to the oral laxative she started receiving that Monday evening in the general ward.

I don’t believe this rectum treatment was even necessary or the only option. I don’t believe it was a life threatening situation that merited the treatment. It was not discussed with myself or my daughter beforehand, and only informed prior to commencing the treatment.

It was a horrific experience for my daughter, and for myself to hear her beg for it to stop and the look in her eyes. This will live with me for a long time.

It appears the treatment wasn’t the only option available, it was forced upon her against her will, and didn’t seem to have any benefit to her condition.

Horrific and traumatic ordeal under the circumstances my daughter was in.