Worried your kid might have appendicitis? Try the jump test

This child does not have appendicitis. But if you suspect yours might, ask them to jump. If they can't without major pain, it's time to call the doctor and maybe head to the hospital. (Kentaroo Tryman/Getty Images/Maskot)

My 5-year-old was complaining of stomach pain, and I was worried and had questions. I asked her how bad the pain was and where it hurt and whether it was getting worse. Being a kindergartner, she couldn't answer my anxious questions with much clarity.

I was worried about appendicitis. Maybe I'd been conditioned by my early devotion to the children's book Madeline and her sudden, urgent crisis in the middle of the night. Isn't appendicitis what all parents worry about when a child complains of stomach pain?