Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Preparing for your appointment
By Mayo Clinic staffYou're likely to start by first seeing your child's doctor. However, in some cases when you call to set up an appointment, you may be referred immediately to a digestive disorders specialist called a gastroenterologist or to an emergency department if your symptoms are severe.
Because appointments can be brief, and because there's often a lot of ground to cover, it's a good idea to be well prepared for your child's appointment. Here's some information to help you get ready and what to expect from the doctor.
What you can do
- Be aware of any pre-appointment restrictions. At the time you make the appointment, be sure to ask if there's anything your child needs to do in advance.
- Write down any symptoms your child is experiencing, including details about how often your child has a bowel movement and what his or her stools are like.
- Write down key personal information, including any major stresses or recent changes in your child's life. Also include your child's diet and exercise habits.
- Make a list of your child's key medical information, including other conditions he or she is being treated for and the names of any medications, vitamins or supplements your child is taking.
- Write down questions to ask your child's doctor.
Your time with your child's doctor is limited, so preparing a list of questions will help you make the most of your time together. List your questions from most important to least important in case time runs out.
For Hirschsprung's disease, some basic questions to ask your child's doctor include:
- What is likely causing my child's symptoms or condition?
- Are there any other possible causes for these symptoms or condition?
- Do you think my child's condition is temporary or chronic?
- What kinds of tests does my child need?
- What treatment do you recommend?
- If you recommend surgery, what should I expect from my child's recovery?
- What is the risk of complications from surgery?
- What is my child's long-term prognosis following surgery?
- Will my child need to follow a special diet?
- Are there any other restrictions that my child will need to follow?
- My child has these other health conditions. How can I best manage them together?
- Should I see a specialist? What will that cost, and will my insurance cover seeing a specialist?
- Are there any brochures or other printed material that I can take home with me? What Web sites do you recommend visiting?
In addition to the questions that you've prepared to ask your doctor, don't hesitate to ask questions during your appointment at any time that you don't understand something.
What to expect from your doctor
Your doctor is likely to ask you a number of questions. Being ready to answer them may reserve time to go over any points you want to talk about in-depth. Your doctor may ask:
- When did your child first begin experiencing symptoms?
- Have your child's symptoms stayed the same or gotten worse?
- How often does your child have a bowel movement?
- Are your child's bowel movements painful for him or her?
- Are your child's stools loose? Do they contain visible blood?
- Has your child been vomiting?
- Does your child tire easily?
- What, if anything, seems to improve your child's symptoms?
- What, if anything, appears to worsen your child's symptoms?
- Has anyone else in your family been diagnosed with Hirschsprung's disease?
- What medications is your child currently taking?
- Is there any history of thyroid, parathyroid or glandular disease in your family?
What you can do in the meantime
Call your child's doctor immediately if your child shows any signs of intestinal infection, such as fever, a swollen abdomen, vomiting, diarrhea, bleeding from the rectum or fatigue. Talk to your child's doctor before making any changes to your child's diet.
- What I need to know about Hirschsprung's disease. National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse. http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/hirschsprungs_ez/. Accessed Sept. 12, 2008.
- Hirschsprung's disease. American Academy of Pediatrics. http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/children/parents/special/birth/906.htm. Accessed Sept. 12, 2008.
- Wesson, DE. Congenital ananglionic megacolon (Hirschsprung disease). http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Sept. 12, 2008.
- Hirschsprung's disease. American Pediatric Surgical Association. http://www.eapsa.org/parents/resources/hirschsprungs.cfm. Accessed Sept. 12, 2008.
- Hirschsprung's disease. Family Practice Notebook. http://www.fpnotebook.com/GI/Neuro/HrschsprngsDs.htm. Accessed Sept. 12, 2008.
- Endom E. Emergency complications of Hirschsprung disease. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Sept. 12, 2008.
- Picco M [expert opinion]. Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Sept. 17, 2008.
