Monday 7th February - Big metal monsters

I don’t like it when Mummy leaves the Ward. I like to make a fuss. I’d seen Dr Burns and he had agreed to increase my medications because I have been so good for the past few days (11!!!) and as he was busy scribbling his doctor scribbles I got weighed by Slim Fast Plan Kath. I was 7.08kg/15lb 9lb so definitely time for more medication but as I was being redressed, I decided to stop breathing.

Mummy and Daddy had been looking over me as usual but were having a discussion about me looking a bit pale, paler than pale and although I was still looking around and wiggling my feet the part of my brain that tells me to breathe had stopped again. Dr Burns helped to remind my brain what it was supposed to be doing and after a little while I was lying with my Oxygen mask and recovering with a puffy red face.

I think Mummy thought it was ok to go and relax and drink coffee with Amy. She was helping to make more necklaces because she feels bad that Amy is getting blisters making all these purple ones for my fundraising and wanted to help out, she brought some in to sell from the hospital.

I had some fan mail today from Nottingham, a beautiful Picture by Ella and some gifts from Ella and Martha and their Mummy. (Mummy says 'Wow! posh bubbles thank you!!')

While I had been left with Daddy, I wasn’t happy, I had a horrid cough that just wouldn’t go away and my bubbles were more bubbly than ever before coming out of my nose and my mouth! When Mummy came back I was worried she may have told me off because I was back in my box. My monitor hardly ever stopped beeping and it was making zig zag patterns. Everyone had to hover over me constantly; I had suction, but I couldn’t stop coughing. Eventually I threw up my milk because of all my coughing and one of the new doctors had to come and check up on me.

She put a big metal lollipop on my chest and decided that it was rattly and arranged for an X-ray. So a big metal monster with long arms came into my room, and Daddy was dressed ready to fight it in bright coloured armour, it was heavy and made his shoulders droop. He held my arms over my head and my oxygen mask and then everyone else ran out of the room!  The machine took a photograph of my chest and then it turned on its wheels and squeaked away again. The photograph showed misty patches on my lungs and they said I had a chest infection, within the next few hours things got worse.

Keeping a close vigil

I was going to have my tea but instead of milk I was going to have some watery sugar mixture, it made me sick. Everyone was concerned about what I would be able to have to keep my fluids up so I didn’t get the shakes. But I got the shakes, I shuddered and my eyes blinked, and then again, and again, Daddy said it looked like mini fits, and in the next twenty minutes he counted over fifty. By then there were a lot of serious faces around my cot. I had hands and fingers in my mouth putting a funny liquid in my cheek; it was to stop me fitting. It made me sick.

My coughing got worse; my temperature got worse; my breathing got worse. 

Doctor Burns had to come back to see me from home because I got worse.

I had hands on my legs and feet and then a needle, ouch, and a canula inserted so they could put me on a drip for my fluids. Then a needle was inserted in my thumb, ouch, to collect blood to check my blood sugars. By now the word pneumonia was mentioned and Mummy suddenly started to tidy up. Bags were moved and packed and unpacked, chairs moved backwards and forwards. Daddy just stood still and watched quietly.  I was given antibiotics through my canula.

An out of hours physiotherapist called Becky came to see me and patted my back for ages and made me cry a little and cough a lot. It helped me to move the misty patches around from out of my chest. She used the suction pipes in and out and eventually my heart rate started to drop from 210 and my temperature dropped from nearly 39 degrees. Eventually Daddy turned the lights down and Mr Sleep came to rescue me. Mummy had an appointment with Mr Sleep too but wasn’t sure that she’d make it as she wanted to keep an eye on me she sent Daddy instead and said she’d try to catch up if she could.