From about the age of 4, our daughter started to have occasional soiling accidents in her knickers. This started to become more regular and having potty trained fine at about 18 months we were struggling to understand why she would be doing this. At the time we were in the process of moving house and within six months my daughter started school and therefore put the accidents down to a way of dealing with the emotional stress. However, things became increasingly worse. She would actively stop herself going to the toilet by sitting on her heal and be regularly soiling her knickers. She had settled in very well at school and had a good group of friends but her behaviour at home was getting increasingly difficult, with full on tantrums and screaming. When she had an accident, we would get cross with her, as we believed she was just being lazy.
The situation became a lot more serious in January 2017, when my daughter started having severe stomach cramps and being sick. We went to A&E where they gave her some laxatives and said she was impacted. We were told to give her laxatives until she went to the toilet and then to stop. However, after the initial clear out, the problem started all over again. My daughter could go a week or more without having a bowel movement. It was then we decided to get professional help from a specialist, Dr Hii.
Dr Hii saw our daughter in early 2017 and carried out various tests and x-rays to identify any allergies, abnormalities and whether she was still constipated. The x-ray clearly showed that she was backed right up and Dr Hii helped us through a full disimpaction of the backed up poo. With his great understanding of the issue, it became clear that this was not something that can be solved overnight but that it was all about regular bowel movements, medication, close monitoring and most of all gaining an understanding that our daughter was not doing this on purpose. In fact, she had lost complete sensation of her bowels and the soiling was leakage of overflow poo, seeping around the blockage.
Dr Hii got us to try a variety of different medications and diets to find the right combination that would work for our daughter. He also gave us some great tips, such as sitting on the toilet for 5 mins at the start and the end of the day. We have eventually found a balance of medication that gives us regular bowel movements and 1 year on from first seeing Dr Hii we feel we can see the end in sight. We are still doing our twice a day toilet sits, and keeping a poo diary, but we have now managed 1 month with no accidents and my daughter is now dry at night, another side effect of severe constipation.
I am so pleased that we took the step to get professional help from Dr Hii, as now, aged 7, our daughter is so much more outgoing, confident and calm. Her behaviour has really improved and we now talk openly about the things which cause her anxiety so we can deal with them, rather than her storing up her problems in her bowel.
I have no reservations at all about recommending Dr Hii for other children with similar issues – it has truly been a life saver for us.