Friday 7 November 2014

an unexpected absence.

I took E to the doctors as he was complaining of stomach pain. Not long later we were at the Great North Children's Hospital 35 miles away. The doctor suggested that they'd probably keep him for observation for a few hours, so we went home to collect his dad, I grabbed him a bag with a teddy, book and pj's, told Miss K that hopefully we wouldn't be long, and off we went. 


and came home 4 days later.

E came home without his appendix.

I learnt a lot in this time. I learnt that if you say you are in pain then you get poked a lot which makes the pain worse. I have a new found respect for the kindness and patience of nurses. I learnt that you can cheer up a teenager quite a lot by taking ridiculous pictures of floppy playing with all the hospital equipment. This is the teenager that didn't fit in the bed on the children's ward, and the nurses extended the end and stuffed the gap with pillows so his feet didn't trail over the edge. I learnt  that if you have a room with an internal window it NEVER gets dark, so at 2.30am when you can't sleep you have enough light to read without turning on any lights.......I learnt which beeping machines you can ignore, and which you can't - morphine pump alarm when patient frantically tries to get more doses than he's allowed. I learnt that anti sickness drugs are essential after a general anaesthetic and morphine, and that the ward had a never ending supply of clean bedding, which we needed, several times.... Also that the combination of morphine and anti sickness drugs can cause hallucinations.


J came back and forth to the hospital in between going to work and looking after Miss K, and I slept on a fold out bed in the corner of the room. We watched a Lot of superhero films, and all of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, sometimes in the middle of the night with the sound turned down very very low. Also some truly dreadful daytime quiz shows. I may never turn the tv on in the day again. We watched people coming in and out of the lifts and if you looked down out of the window you could watch the people in the queue at the coffee shop. I spent a long time looking out at the people, the extremely frail old lady pushing her handbag in a wheelchair was the highlight I think.

I was extremely grateful for messages and support, and the kindness we were shown. E is recovering slowly and very happy to be back home. He is not at all sad that he missed going back to school after half term. He is also very happy that he still can't have a bath or shower and doesn't have to do games at school for weeks and weeks and weeks. Oh and he got bought lego as a treat. and sweets.

I am appreciating being and at home, drinking tea made in a teapot, and pondering why on earth when I realised that E would need overnight things did I never at any point think that I might need anything....

I hope you all have very quiet and uneventful weekends. That is definitely what I am hoping for.

28 comments:

  1. Poor lad - glad you're home now though and on the way to recovery.

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  2. Now that's an adventure you could have done without! So glad you're both out the other end okay, hospitals are such exhausting places. You'll both need some recovery time.

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  3. Oh gosh! So glad you are both back home now. Hope E is feeling much, much better very soon!

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  4. How very eventful, I am glad he is ok and you are both back home. Hope everything returns to normal soon. I also think that taking pictures with soft toys using the hospital equipment is hilarious. - Annie

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  5. An adventure of the unwelcome kind. I'm glad E is okay and home healing. Have a most boring weekend.

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  6. I am glad you are re-united at home. Glad also that the young man is recovering. Have a great quiet weekend. x

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  7. Oh Dear! That was not good ~ but glad that your son is on the mend now. It's funny that in a crisis us Mums always forget about ourselves. Love the photos with the scruffy do too :O)xx

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  8. Oh wow -- you've had an eventful week! So glad it's over and all turned out well. I hope you can get some rest!

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  9. Oh my what a week! Life does like to throw a curve ball now and then. Hope you all recover soon from your detour from "normal "life.

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  10. It sounds like a really rough few days, I imagine you felt dreadful by the end of it all. I do hope you have a calm and relaxing weekend, and that the pain eases off for him very soon. CJ xx

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  11. Blimey.
    Non stop LotR and Lego sounds like a winner. And no PE for weeks...
    Hope your DVD library at home is extensive and the weather rubbish.
    Muchest love x

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  12. Oh dear that doesn't sound a good few days. Glad he's on the mend now though - have a peaceful weekend.

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  13. Oh poor you and poor E....so glad he is on the mend and home again. I liked your observations of being in a hospital...there is always something odd to see like the old lady you noticed! Great pictures of Floppy doing hospitally things too.....that must have cheered you all up :)
    Wishing you a relaxing weekend after that ordeal, and hope E gets better very soon.
    Helen xox

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  14. I am glad that E is well and back home again and that you all made it through. I hope that you can find a little time to relax now and that E's recovery continues to be good. xx

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  15. There are so many familiar scenarios to me in your post Tess, I have had several unexpected stays in hospital with both my boys, and they have a peculiar, timeless, sleepless discomfort, and all your energy is focused on your child. The relief of getting out into the fresh air when you are discharged, and of bringing home a child who will make a full recovery, is incomparable. Best wishes to your son, and to you too X

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    1. you've describe it perfectly Penny, sorry that you understand though x

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  16. Goodness, Tess - what a scare! I'm glad your son is home again and that he was well taken care of. All the very best there xxx

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  17. Oh no, what a horrible few days for you both. Having spent many long long nights trying to sleep next to my son in hospital I can relate to the relief you feel at being at home. The last dash to hospital was when he was away on a trip in the next county, I rushed up their with no thought of packing anything for myself so was in the same clothes for days, luckily the hospital shop sold knickers! Glad he is on the mend x

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  18. Oh, wow, how gruelling and exhausting for you all. You want hold them a bit tighter with a grateful lump in the throat when you get home don't you? x

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  19. Blimey, all a bi scary and exhausting I should think. Although I did smile at the end of your post and here's why ...... my son (Aspergers) is regularly convinced that he has appendicitis since a boy in his class had it last year. Honestly he has us driven mad telling him (always at bedtime Obviously) that no he hasn't got it, yes he'll be fine etc etc (in case you're worried it might actually BE appendicitis it's been months now on and off and in between its fine. I think it's more likely he needs to go to the loo). Anyway. When I read about the not rushing straight back to school and not having to have showers and missing PE and getting loads of sweets ....... well thankyou because now I can tell him the positives :D
    Hope recovery continues well
    Jill xxx

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    1. the pain of the surgery probably doesn't quite make up for the lack of showers and PE, but almost! x

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  20. Hope E recovers quickly. All that not bathing/showering, no PE etc should help a treat.

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  21. I'm so glad that all is well. Sam had a similar experience a couple of years ago. He was completely thrilled to have a legitimate excuse not to do games. It was very horrid to see him in all that pain. And the moment that he goes under the general anesthetic and was wheeled away is something I won't forget in a hurry.

    Leanne xx

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    1. no I don't want to repeat that moment either.....

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  22. Eek ... kids in hospital is so not fun. So glad he's doing well. One of my lot managed three emergency admissions before the age of 15 and that included two ops, all for different things. The other three, nothing between them. I feel your pain and so know what you mean about going home to proper tea in a pot. Look after yourself for a week or so too Tess, all the upheaval and stress is more of a shock to the parental system than you might think x

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  23. That sounds like a really scary few days for you. I hope that you have been able to have a restful few days now that you are both home.

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  24. Glad to hear that all is well and he is on the mend. We had an appendix scare with Amy a couple of years ago. Mark took her to A&E. Was so relieved to see them both walk back through the door a few hours later. xx

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