"Anyone who does anything to help a child in his life is a hero to me"
- Fred Rogers
Not so much profound words of wisdom but something some one said that has struck a chord with me. The end of last week took a unplanned twist of events in our family's life when my little LC became suddenly sick last Thursday lunchtime while at her Grandma's house.
I managed to get a couple of hours work in and then went to get her to find she had continued to be sick through the afternoon and poor Grandma had already done two loads of laundry! LC was sick twice more before we managed to leave and again in the car on the way home, we picked up her daddy on the way and as soon as we got in I rang NHS Direct for some advice as I was a little concerned at this point
By 7pm I was speaking to a nurse who had phoned back, LC was continuing to vomit and did so as I was on the phone, she asked what colour it was and when I told her yellow she advised us to get her to A&E, so we threw some things in to her baby bag and off we went, by the time we had got her and registered at reception it was 8pm.
We were kept company by another mum and dad with a very poorly little boy about the same age as LC who was also vomiting and we all shared looks of empathy, confusion and worry. They were seen with 45 minute of our arrival as they were there before us and we hoped that our turn wouldn't be much longer. At 9.30pm we saw the triage nurse who took LC's temperature, monitored pulse and weighed her, LC was puking up thick yellow vomit by this point as was drifting in and out of sleep and was very cross at being prodded and poked by the nurse who was very sweet and did her best to be gentle and reassuring.
We told by our nurse that a doctor would be along to see us and almost and hour and a half later he did! It was very frustrating as time ticked on we were all tired, LC kept asking for water which we allowed her sips but immediately sicking it back up, she was obviously in pain and very distressed and so were we watching our little girl and waiting for someone to finally see her. Our doctor was lovely and we understood that they got us as quick as we could, we explained we were told to come because of the colour of her vomit and showed him the towel we had been using, he felt her stomach and explained that as the colour had a greeny tinge he was calling down a paediatric surgeon and left to make that phone call!
At this point myself and LC's daddy just stared at each other, then started to think about all the possibilities of what may be about to happen, we phone both our mums and explained what was going on. About 20 minutes later our lovely paediatric consultant turned up, we went over again what was happening and he examined LC, by this point poor little monkey knew something serious was going on and very calmly and patiently lay there as the doctor examined her and I held her little hand.
Before the doctor could finish the exam he was called away to an emergency, as nurse popped in and told us we were being admitted to the Children's ward and he would visit us there to finish the examination. So at midnight our lovely nurse took us all up to the tenth floor, we put in an isolation room, more stats were taken, we were introduced to the night nurses and finally got a cup of team. We were told that only one of us could stay once the doctor had been back as there was only one single pull down bed in the room, naturally we agreed I would stay and we made plans and lists of all the things that need to be done and bought back to the hospital the next day, just before the doctor returned LC did a lovely little poo in her nappy which was good news and when the doctor did come back to examine her we were relieved to hear him say that this confirmed there was no blockage and our fears of surgery were lifted!
LC's daddy went home and I spent the night tending to my poorly baby with help and support from the nurses, they asked me to give her 5mls of water with medication mixed in that would hopefully help her to re-hydrate and replenish some of the nutrients she had lost, she continued to sleep and vomit and her temperature shot right up as I tried my best to keep giving her little syringes of water and meds when ever I could and getting a few cat naps in myself, thank god for the iPod that kept me sane and in touch with the outside world
In the morning we had a brief visit from the doctor and the senior consultant just to check how our night was and to up to 10mls, the night shift nurse changed in to the day and we again very supportive and friendly, I got tea and toast while LC continued to sleep on and off. LC's daddy arrived back at 9am with a big bag of goodies, a change of clothes, wash bag and diet coke and sandwiches for me and books and extra nappies for LC!
Mid morning another senior consultant came to see us who was wonderful with my poorly and very fragile baby, before he examined her he gave her toy monkey a thorough check over with his stethoscope and announced to the room of junior doctors and nurse that he was indeed healthy and well we tickled LC who was then happy to oblige him with his examination of her!
It was decided that if we could get a poo sample they wouldn't have to take bloods and with in minutes of them all leaving she provided them with a yucky dirty nappy and was relieved they would have to stick any needles in her! She was also aloud a bit of juice and water as she hadn't been sick since the early hours of the morning and at this point she turned from being a very tired and distressed baby back in to our charming and happy little girl, amazing what a bit of white toast and ribeanna can do for a girl!
AS the day progressed she improved so much, we saw her doctors again and they agreed that she was doing so well that we could care for her at home so at 4pm - ish we were discharged and came home together. LC was sick again and still had a temperature on Sunday with lots of runny nappies but we were told to expect this but eventually these have started to settle down. The doctors have suspected that she has contracted Norovirus and we will have this confirmed in the next couple of days.
I am utterly astounded at how well my 19 month old baby has handled all of this, she excepted everything that was happening, let all the medical staff touch her and invaded her space to do their job whether she was awake or asleep, never once asked to go home or said no to anything, she was brave and sweet and been so compliant the whole way through trusting everyone to get her back to health.
Because of this she has been spoilt with some presents which she thoroughly deserves.....
- Fred Rogers
Not so much profound words of wisdom but something some one said that has struck a chord with me. The end of last week took a unplanned twist of events in our family's life when my little LC became suddenly sick last Thursday lunchtime while at her Grandma's house.
I managed to get a couple of hours work in and then went to get her to find she had continued to be sick through the afternoon and poor Grandma had already done two loads of laundry! LC was sick twice more before we managed to leave and again in the car on the way home, we picked up her daddy on the way and as soon as we got in I rang NHS Direct for some advice as I was a little concerned at this point
By 7pm I was speaking to a nurse who had phoned back, LC was continuing to vomit and did so as I was on the phone, she asked what colour it was and when I told her yellow she advised us to get her to A&E, so we threw some things in to her baby bag and off we went, by the time we had got her and registered at reception it was 8pm.
We were kept company by another mum and dad with a very poorly little boy about the same age as LC who was also vomiting and we all shared looks of empathy, confusion and worry. They were seen with 45 minute of our arrival as they were there before us and we hoped that our turn wouldn't be much longer. At 9.30pm we saw the triage nurse who took LC's temperature, monitored pulse and weighed her, LC was puking up thick yellow vomit by this point as was drifting in and out of sleep and was very cross at being prodded and poked by the nurse who was very sweet and did her best to be gentle and reassuring.
We told by our nurse that a doctor would be along to see us and almost and hour and a half later he did! It was very frustrating as time ticked on we were all tired, LC kept asking for water which we allowed her sips but immediately sicking it back up, she was obviously in pain and very distressed and so were we watching our little girl and waiting for someone to finally see her. Our doctor was lovely and we understood that they got us as quick as we could, we explained we were told to come because of the colour of her vomit and showed him the towel we had been using, he felt her stomach and explained that as the colour had a greeny tinge he was calling down a paediatric surgeon and left to make that phone call!
At this point myself and LC's daddy just stared at each other, then started to think about all the possibilities of what may be about to happen, we phone both our mums and explained what was going on. About 20 minutes later our lovely paediatric consultant turned up, we went over again what was happening and he examined LC, by this point poor little monkey knew something serious was going on and very calmly and patiently lay there as the doctor examined her and I held her little hand.
Before the doctor could finish the exam he was called away to an emergency, as nurse popped in and told us we were being admitted to the Children's ward and he would visit us there to finish the examination. So at midnight our lovely nurse took us all up to the tenth floor, we put in an isolation room, more stats were taken, we were introduced to the night nurses and finally got a cup of team. We were told that only one of us could stay once the doctor had been back as there was only one single pull down bed in the room, naturally we agreed I would stay and we made plans and lists of all the things that need to be done and bought back to the hospital the next day, just before the doctor returned LC did a lovely little poo in her nappy which was good news and when the doctor did come back to examine her we were relieved to hear him say that this confirmed there was no blockage and our fears of surgery were lifted!
LC's daddy went home and I spent the night tending to my poorly baby with help and support from the nurses, they asked me to give her 5mls of water with medication mixed in that would hopefully help her to re-hydrate and replenish some of the nutrients she had lost, she continued to sleep and vomit and her temperature shot right up as I tried my best to keep giving her little syringes of water and meds when ever I could and getting a few cat naps in myself, thank god for the iPod that kept me sane and in touch with the outside world
In the morning we had a brief visit from the doctor and the senior consultant just to check how our night was and to up to 10mls, the night shift nurse changed in to the day and we again very supportive and friendly, I got tea and toast while LC continued to sleep on and off. LC's daddy arrived back at 9am with a big bag of goodies, a change of clothes, wash bag and diet coke and sandwiches for me and books and extra nappies for LC!
Mid morning another senior consultant came to see us who was wonderful with my poorly and very fragile baby, before he examined her he gave her toy monkey a thorough check over with his stethoscope and announced to the room of junior doctors and nurse that he was indeed healthy and well we tickled LC who was then happy to oblige him with his examination of her!
It was decided that if we could get a poo sample they wouldn't have to take bloods and with in minutes of them all leaving she provided them with a yucky dirty nappy and was relieved they would have to stick any needles in her! She was also aloud a bit of juice and water as she hadn't been sick since the early hours of the morning and at this point she turned from being a very tired and distressed baby back in to our charming and happy little girl, amazing what a bit of white toast and ribeanna can do for a girl!
AS the day progressed she improved so much, we saw her doctors again and they agreed that she was doing so well that we could care for her at home so at 4pm - ish we were discharged and came home together. LC was sick again and still had a temperature on Sunday with lots of runny nappies but we were told to expect this but eventually these have started to settle down. The doctors have suspected that she has contracted Norovirus and we will have this confirmed in the next couple of days.
I am utterly astounded at how well my 19 month old baby has handled all of this, she excepted everything that was happening, let all the medical staff touch her and invaded her space to do their job whether she was awake or asleep, never once asked to go home or said no to anything, she was brave and sweet and been so compliant the whole way through trusting everyone to get her back to health.
Because of this she has been spoilt with some presents which she thoroughly deserves.....
...and the little quote that I have chosen today is dedicated to all the hospital staff who did an amazing job looking after LC, although it wasn't no where near a serious as we originally thought it might be it was still a stressful time seeing our daughter so ill and the doctors and nurses who looked after her treated her like she was the most important patient on the world, in my job I get to hear a lot of negative stories about professionals especially in medicine and care and I am so happy to say that my family again have been met with courtesy, support and understanding from these professionals.
I am also happy to say that now at the start of a new week LC is running around, albeit with a few yucky nappies, getting up to mischief and being cute, clever and funny again and we can put our adventure in hospital behind us!
P.S. if you are still reading, thanks! x x x
