Doctors in Warwickshire said that at one point, 2kg of Ivan Novak’s tiny 12kg bodyweight was stool, with the constipation leaving him in excruciating agony
A toddler was left with such severe constipation that his organs were crushed while he screamed in agony.
Mother Elissa Novak said the worst of the condition saw her son Ivan suffering constant vomiting, weight loss and excruciating pain. A doctor later estimated that 2kg of his tiny 12kg bodyweight was made up of stool.
NHS figures show the number of children under 16 admitted to hospitals with constipation is at the highest level in 10 years. Between 2023 and 2024, there were more than 44,000 admissions to English hospitals.
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Ivan, now five, had his toddler years “completely robbed” due to constipation. In one six-month period in 2022, he had to be admitted to hospital 25 times.
“It was horrific,” Elissa, from Nuneaton in Warwickshire, told the BBC. “He was so frail he couldn’t lift himself up or do anything.
“He was in pain all the time and either screaming or just lying there because he was too weak.”
The 35-year-old mum said she constantly sought the advice of her GP, trying to get the answers to help her little boy.
But at the time, there was no community service for incontinence in the county, meaning they were going to A&E up to four times every week.
Elissa eventually found out that constipation was the cause of his pain, and believes he might have died if it hadn’t been treated sooner.
Doctors told her that his entire colon had been affected. The organ had been pushed towards his lung cavity and that his stomach had been “squashed”.
“His stomach was squashed. All of his organs were being pushed out of the way,” Elissa said. “We were in A&E for up to 12 hours at a time… just waiting for an enema of all things. It was a very horrible time. It was so traumatic for everybody.”
The youngster also has genetic condition that affect his cognitive abilities, which Elissa believes may have also lead to the late diagnosis.
“It was seen as ‘that’s just what disabled children are like’. We did actually have one consultant who said ‘disabled children just scream’,” Elissa said.
“It wasn’t looked into properly, it wasn’t taken seriously until he was really at crisis point. His signs of pain weren’t recognised. It was just a perfect storm really.”
The charity Bladder and Bowel UK says around 1.5million kids in the UK suffer with the condition, adding that there’s been a surge in calls to their helpline as youngsters return to school this week.
A children’s specialist nurse with the charity, Davina Richardson, said: “It’s a huge problem and many healthcare professionals don’t consider it a serious issue in children.
“Discussing wee and poo is very un-British. It’s not something that we as a culture do.”
