Facilitator notes

Facilitator, please role-play the parent of this patient and allow the student/team to collect a focused history. The key elements are reported here, provide generic information when there is no applicable answer below.
After the role-play, provide the History handout to the player.

Lucy Potts, 8 years old, non-Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. History provided by parent.

Opening line: “We don’t know what’s going on! She is such an active and happy kid, normally, and now we can barely get her to wake up.”

Lucy woke up this morning and told you she was feeling sick and then vomited twice. She also said her tummy was hurting. You have left her with a sitter for the day. The sitter said Lucy mostly slept, but also watched cartoons for a couple of hours. She vomited a couple more times during the day, but was able to keep down some water. The vomit was clear/yellow. Lucy did not have any diarrhoea.

After your return, you noticed Lucy progressively becoming more and more drowsy, so you decided to bring her in.

You have noticed changes over the last month but worse over the previous week. She has been very thirsty and urinating a lot more frequently and she has also lost a lot of weight over the last month. These symptoms have been worse over the last week.

You think that last week Lucy had an infection in her bladder earlier this week, as she was complaining of pain when she went to the toilet.

Past medical history

Lucy does not take any medications and is otherwise well. No known allergies.

Grandmother had diabetes since she was little. She has recently passed due to cardiovascular disease. Aunt has coeliac disease.

Lifestyle and social history

Lucy is a happy child, plays regularly with her friends and plays volleyball twice a week after school. She does well in school, her favourite subject is Science, and she wants to be a doctor when she grows up.