Question

Allisson Russo is a 15 year old girl admitted to the Emergency Room with Right , lower quadrant pain. She is eventually diagnosed with appendicitis and scheduled for an appendectomy. After visiting Allison in the Er, the surgeon Alerts the Operating Room nurse, Ms. Wendy Harnes that the surgery will take place in an hour. Allison is HIV positive from emergency medical acre and blood transfusions that she received six years ago, following an auto accident. Allison does not know that she is positive, at the request of her parents, who are born high-powered attorneys. Allison tells Ms. Harnes that she used to to be involved in sports but has dropped these activities in school because of feeling more tired than usual. She thinks that her academic studies are simply requiring more of her attention , but her mother has suggested that perhaps she would be seeing a new doctor soon. Allison asks the nurse “ Do you think being tired at my age is a serious concern? I thought all teenagers feel like this. I feel that I have a serious health problem.” How should Ms. Hayes respond to Allison?

Answer 1

Allisson Russo, 15 years old girl, admitted in emergency room.

Patient chief complaints - right lower quadrant pain.

Diagnosis - Appendicitis

Treatment - Surgery i.e appendectomy  

* She is HIV POSITIVE

Ms. Hayes should respond to Allisson in a positive way and should counsel her about fatigue and the reason behind this and what should she do in treatment or prophylaxis.

Tiredness and fatigue are common problems amongst HIV positive patients.

Fatigue is generally defined as abnormal exhaustion after normal activities and is an extremely common subjective symptom of many physical and mental health conditions.
HIV is a chronic infection and the body initiate a strong immune response against it. People with HIV may use a lot of energy because they are constantly battling the virus. This means that fatigue might slowly develop because the body is working so hard to fight HIV.

High viral load particularly associated with tiredness and fatigue. The aim of HIV treatment is to reduce the amount of HIV in the blood to undetectable levels. People often report an increase in their energy levels after starting HIV treatment.

Even a minor illness like a common cold can feel one tired out, even after the symptoms have gone. Some more serious infections, like pneumonia or tuberculosis can involve very serious tiredness,

We all go through periods of low energy. Even a week of feeling more tired than usual is not uncommon but if fatigue gets worst and lasts longer than a week or two, then it might be related to underlying disease, infection or illness especially if it's accompanied by symptoms, such as a low-grade fever, shortness of breath, or loss of appetite.

If a person often wake up exhausted despite sleeping well, do not feel motivated to begin the day, or struggle to do activities that are ordinarily easy then it could be serious as it might be due to any illness or some health problems.

Some possible reasons for persistent fatigue or tiredness in children may include - sleep problems, side effects of medication, infections, chronic illness, heart problems, depression, anxiety, or other mental health problems.

Nurse should tell Allisson that what positive changes she should do to have a healthy life.