Tag

immune vulnerability

Jun 19
1

On the A&E during lockdown visit

By | #teammikaere | No Comments

The thing with isolating is that safety stops at your front door. Inside: safe. Everything else: unsafe. We’ve been living that tenet for what feels like forever (funny how long 4+ months can feel).

But about a couple of months in, Mikaere started having seizures. Not just one or two, but many. The kind where it knocks him out, and as he’s waking up he has another. He was having very little awake time, losing skills and honestly, they were the kind of horrific seizures where between having the seizure and his brain shutting down, he’d literally scream before becoming unconscious. Melt your heart, panic when your heard it type scream (can I just say now I loathe NKH to the very depths of all that I am capable of feeling). We ended up sedating him, several times. We haven’t had to do that in almost a year.

The other concern was his heart rate. Usually when sleeping his heart rate is 90 or under. Fairly typical, as far as heart rates go. But when I came on shift after The Day of Awful Seizures, I watched as his heart rate went up and down, up and down while he slept. But by morning his heart rate was over 160bpm, despite him still being asleep.

His heart when he’s active and awake and happy is somewhere between 120 and 140. 160+ when sleeping with seizures indicated something was Wrong. Capital W.

Obviously being in isolation trying to figure out what to do adds complexity. Do we go into the hospital and get a review? Do we leave the safety of our flat, and take him into the A&E to get checked out?

Let’s be clear. At this point, we were mid peak. Thousands of people were dying a day. Four times that were testing positive daily. Outside our door seemed a dangerous place, and we were deeply distrustful of everyone. They could be asymptotic, they could share it and we could be facing something else. The risk felt huge.

Trying to figure out logically what was going on, I went through the list of the possible causes in my head:

Had he pooped in the last day, was he constipated?
Had he gained weight? Was his meds dosages off?
Has any of the meds changed brands/formula?
Had one of his meds oxidised and become unusable?
Was his glycine levels too high?
Or were they too low? Did he have Sodium Benzoate toxicity?
Did he have a fever, was he too hot?
Was he in pain?
Was he ill? Did he have an infection?
Was it a full moon, were the planets out of alignment (kidding, mostly. Sometimes it feels like there’s no rhyme or reason to these episodes despite me bending over backwards to figure it out)

A lot of those required blood tests and swabs to eliminate. After some in depth conversation with our CCN (community care nurse) we weighed up the risk. She called down to paeds A&E to assess the risk with what kind of patients they had on the floor and we talked to our neurodisability consult. And then we made the decision to go in. The truth is, with a heart rate that high, with having to sedate him for the first time in a long time and with an abnormally high number of seizures, he should be seen and reviewed. Just in case.

So we went. We assembled enough supplies for the day and for the first time since March, we all left the flat. Mikaere hadn’t really woken since the day before yesterday. He’d been having seizure after seizure. (I hate NKH. I hate it I hate it I hate it).

It was less risk for us to drive than take an ambulance, so that’s what we did. We faced an issue at the door, as only one parent is allowed to accompany a child at a time. We got around that later, by coming in separately to do a handover.

The paediatric waiting room was empty. The staff were careful to stay well back, and had gloves and masks. We were shown to a private triage room immediately. Sam and I were both able to stay through triage while we made a plan. Bloods, swabs and observation while we waited to see what his heart rate did.

We were eventually moved through to majors, and Sam left. I struggled. Sleep deprivation is a real thing, and I’d already missed the lunchtime nap that gets me through the day. Still, they did bloods and the swabs, and took away a urine sample. His heart rate came down, just a few beats a time. Mikaere was still sleeping, bar the seizures.

I also had a minor argument with the reg while he was taking bloods. Mikaere is hard to cannulate and never gets a cannula in on one go. He ends up with multiple bruises and scabs and it’s always awful.

The cannula they used to collect the blood wouldn’t flush (it never ever does). The reg wanted to insert a new cannula against the possibility he needed to be admitted. I argued that he may be causing my baby pain unnecessarily, that he might not be admitted and might not need the cannula. Also, that the emergency medication they’d administer was rectal paraldehyde and wouldn’t be going through a stupid cannula anyway. I insisted they stop. If he needed one later they could try later. It turned out I was right and saved my baby a tiny speck of unnecessary pain and suffering. It’s not often I can do that, so I’ll take it where I can.

While we waited, I convinced Mikaere to wake long enough poop, which was good. He wasn’t hot, not temp. He hadn’t gained any weight that would make his dosages change. We gave him a dose of calpol, just in case he *was* in pain. I was crossing off possible causes in my head. Watching as his heart rate came down a bit more.

And we settled in to wait for the blood results, my eyes constantly flicked between the sat monitor and Mikaere as we waited between seizures. Hours and hours later, the bloods came back clear. No infection (I’d hope so, we’d been in isolation for what felt like ever). Sodium, calcium, potassium all in normal range, so no indication of Sodium Benzoate toxicity. Glycine levels would come back in a week or so. Carnatine looked fine. Liver function fine.

Mikaere woke up enough to play with some toys shared (and disinfected) by the units play therapist. His heart rate was nearly in normal range, considering he was awake.

The consultant came down to have a chat with me. Essentially, he wanted Mikaere to be admitted on the ward for observation. Because we’d already given two doses of buccal midazolam, he’d hit his max 24hr quota. If Mikaere needed more rescue medication because of seizures, the next medication was rectal paraldehyde, as laid out in his seizure care plan.

The problem is that it’s not always easy to get on short notice. We didn’t have any at home (our stash expired, and it had been so long since we’d needed to use it). They had some on the ward, but wouldn’t be able to get any from the outpatient clinic.

If we left we’d be taking a risk. If he was admitted to the ward, we’d be taking a different risk.

We talked it out. Essentially I decided that between solo parenting for the entire night on the ward with sleep deprivation, Mikaere’s seizures decreasing and his heart coming down, and that we’re an 8 minute blue light from the hospital, we should go home.

The consultant argued until I asked if any of the nurses were sharing shifts across wards or working with covid positive patients. Then I asked how many kids on the ward had pseudomonas or rhinovirus or any of the other respiratory illnesses that would also be a danger to Mikaere. He shut up after that. I guess things on the ward weren’t ideal. We were towards the end of winter, so I’m not surprised.

Either way, Mikaere was discharged, with strict instructions about what to do if things got worse. Conveniently Sam had arrived and we went HOME. It was glorious to be back in the safety of our flat. After disinfecting ourselves with baths/showers/changes of clothes I went through all of Mikaere’s meds.

There’s one particular supplement he gets once a day, at lunchtime, called ubiquinol. It’s a supplement that supports cell repair and is a potent antioxidant.

However, the pharmacy had supplied ubiquinone, the oxidised form, which your liver needs to process into ubiquinol. Considering that Mikaere’s liver is already doing so much, and thanks to NKH, it’s not clear what exactly is happening in his liver, anything out of the ordinary could cause things to go sideways.

The horror of it was that because the dose required more capsules than was supplied in the packet, the pharmacist had supplied extras in a jar, and had mislabelled the jar ubiquinol and not ubiquinone (which was the drug supplied). Sam, who doesn’t usually do the 12 meds’ didn’t think anything of it. The jar had the right label on it, so it should have been the right med.

I was livid (with the pharmacy, not with Sam). Our prescription clearly states it should be ubiquinol, not ubiquinone. I kicked off a formal investigation and it turned out a locum pharmacist had made a mistake, and had thought there was no difference between the oxidised and reduced form. They didn’t have ubiquinol in stock, easier to substitute than order in. No harm interchanging them. He could have been right, in a typical patient. But let’s not make guesstimates when the patient has a rare metabolic disorder.

I was gutted, because I really like that pharmacy. They’ve been so good to us, and this was the first mistake they’d made in the three years we’ve been with them.

Luckily, the owner of the pharmacy knows us and was equally horrified. He implemented a whole range of safety checks to make sure it wouldn’t happen again (to us or anyone else) and the locum was let go. I’m sad someone had to lose their job, but I’m also frustrated that the safety, health and quality of life of my baby boy is so heavily reliant on others doing their job as they should, without guesstimates or convenience-based substitutions.

We stopped giving Mikaere ubiquinone, and the pharmacy shipped out ubiquinol quick smart.

To be safe, we also opened new bottles of meds we thought might have oxidised. Between having pooped, ubiquinol and unoxidised meds, Mikaere’s seizures eased, and we settled back into our regular routine.

Sam’s convinced it was the pooping. I’m sure it was the ubiquinone. It could have been some unknown pain/calpol. (In my head I can hear Kai’s Grandma telling us the moon was full). Either way, I’m glad we went in to get him checked out, but I’m more relieved that we all got through to the other side safe.

The special needs life is no walk in the park. Hey ho, onwards in isolation we go!

Jun 15
1

On Isolation

By | #teammikaere | No Comments

Hi hi! Gosh, it’s been a while. We’ve been in isolation since mid-March (today is day 99 in isolation). I know our radio silence has bothered some people (thanks for checking in!) but we’re safe and sound.

We decided to take a step back from social media. Isolation has been quite tricky for us. Sam and I are both incredibly sleep deprived – we don’t have the privilege of our night nurses (we miss them!). Sam and I are sleeping in shifts (I get to sleep 10pm – 3am and a nap at lunch) but the risk of having people in and out of our home isn’t worth Mikaere’s health. Children his age with similar health needs have died, and next to that what’s 99 days (and counting!) in our little apartment?

Social media during this time has been really really intense. It hasn’t been the usual positive connection with the world. It’s become a platform for opinions we don’t share (#blackLivesMatter not #allLivesMatter, and it’s not #justTheFlu. We’ve unfollowed a significant number of accounts as a result) and watching others trade authenticity for glossy perfection #blessed highlight reels is the opposite of why we’re here.

We treasure genuine connection – sharing our reality in a way that’s authentic. We share a tiny segment of our reality, the ups and down, and this little break has really emphasised what kind of relationship we want to have with everyone here.

So I’m glad we stepped back, but I’m sorry to have worried so many of you! (Again, thanks for checking in, you guys are the best). But while we’re struggling, we’re doing okay. We’re safe.

Honestly, it hasn’t been an easy ride. If I’m being really honest, I’m still angry that we live the special needs life. That it’s riskier for us to be out and about than it is everyone else. That other kids get to go run around the park once a day, and we do little tours around our tiny apartment again and again and again. That others can go out without worrying whether their child will catch something that might kill them. Blah.

Isolation has mostly been a matter of keeping on keeping on. We’re very much about just getting through each day, and keeping our little guy entertained. Some days there’s therapy, a lot of days there isn’t. Sometimes there are fun sensory games with paint and shaving foam and ice cubes in a tray of warm water, sometimes Mikaere’s on the floor with a balloon and we call it good.

We’re managing. Our pharmacy delivers, as does our supermarket. We have a wonderful group of local friends who have been really great about supplying the gaps. For all the people asking, yes my hair has grown. I am no longer bald and have a respectable if unkempt pixie. Sam’s able to work from home (a privilege, I know!) and bar one unexpected a&e visit (oh seizures) we’ve been able to stay in.

Because here’s what I know: as long as we’re in our apartment and the rest of the world is outside, we’re safe.

We’re also in a position where we don’t trust that the government advice is whats best for our family. Our current government has shown repeatedly that they value the economy over the vulnerable, elderly and disabled. That they’re okay to risk their lives for everyone else, and we’re not okay with that. Every medical report that’s been released has been clear that lockdown is easing too soon, and we agree. So despite ‘shielding rules’ allowing outside walks – we’re not going out. And I know we’re not the only special needs family doing the same.

With schools coming back, and unessential shops opening, we’re going to continue to isolate for a few more weeks until we can see that the danger of a second peak has passed. Got my fingers crossed that a second peak doesn’t happen – I can’t tell you how much we miss the outside world.

Until then, what have we missed? How are you? What news???

Mar 16
0

Covid-19 and Self Isolation

By | #teammikaere | No Comments

So, we’re self isolating in the light of Coronavirus. Sam is working from the spare room, all appointments have been cancelled, all nurse support has been put on hold for the next week or two, and we’re staying in. Just us three.

For us, Mikaere’s respiratory health is a priority. When he gets poorly his o2 sats drop, his heart rate goes up and he has more frequent seizures. When he got rhinovirus we lived on the ward of our local hospital for weeks until I could convince them that he was safer at home (we have all the equipment they have on the ward at home, without the hospital super bugs). But with Coronavirus? If he got it, and needed ventilation, that wouldn’t be ICU for us. Instead that would mean hospice on end of life care. Because Mikaere’s emergency care plan, as set out by us and his palliative care team has said that if he needs ventilation, that’s too extreme a step.
So you can bet we’re self isolating. When your son is the vulnerable camp, you be as risk averse as you possibly can, we’re not risking health. We’re being safe, as safe as we can be.

So here we go! Self isolation. Hope you’re all well and safe!
#nonketotichyperglycinemia #nkhcansuckit #specialneedslife #nkhawareness #coronavirusuk #cureforNKH

Feb 02
0

On the Respiratory Care Plan

By | #teammikaere | No Comments

One of the things we’ve added to our Keep-Mikaere-well line up is a daily nebuliser. It helps loosen any secretions in his chest and with some chest percussions and suction we’re able to remove some of what he isn’t able to do by himself.

This is one of those my-kid-has-low-tone things. Because he’s not upright, because he’s not moving himself about, his body doesn’t manage secretions and mucus the same way. The fight we went through to get the neb + the respiratory care plan was ridiculous. Requesting a referral to the respiratory team was a nightmare. We already have oxygen at home – which came from palliative, not respiratory – but if you have a kid who needs oxygen at home, SURELY it makes sense to be under a respiratory service?! There was months of asking and waiting and justifying and emailing and chasing up.  Honestly, the underfunded NHS has a lot to answer for.

But eventually, months and months after requesting we FINALLY got an appointment. We went, and we talked to a big fancy consultant who was very blasé because Mikaere has a metabolic based disorder, and not a respiratory based one. There is nothing wrong with his lungs, per say. Just his tone.

But, with his tone, he’s not always able to cough. And if he can’t cough, and mucus blocks his airway, his body overreacts, he gags and then vomits. This is clear problem (I talk about the daily vomits all the time, so you know this is a problem for us). So, we it talk through with the consultant, and then we’re palmed off to the nursing team.  I’m not sad about this, because anyone who has spent time in a hospital setting knows that it’s ALWAYS run by the nurses. The respiratory nurses were amazing and smart and in half the time of the consult we had a plan and things to try.

Thus, this daily nebuliser.  It’s not a short, easy add, though. It takes 15 minutes of entertainment in a chair, battling his little fingers as he tries to pull the mask off. Chest percussion is awful, he hates it (firmly ‘clapping’ your child while he cries is not fun for anyone. And before anyone gets on our grill, we have respiratory physios and nurses overseeing this particular bit of care). And then suction. We literally put a thin tube up Mikaere’s nose and down the back of his throat to suck out the secretions there, and then I hope that might cause him to might cough and we’ll catch the mucus and suck it out of his mouth. Sometimes we’re successful and his breathing sounds clear afterwords. Sometimes it’s less so and he sounds like he’s snoring because there is a stubborn mucus plug in his airway that I can’t get to.

But I have to say, I think the added care has helped. It’s not always an easy thing to fit in, but on days that he’s poorly and has a snotty nose – it makes the WORLD of difference. I think it’s just another thing we’re doing to help keep Mikaere as well as we possibly can.

Nebulisers and suctioning mucus plugs. Oh special needs life.

Oct 25
0

On making the boot work

By | #teammikaere | No Comments

Fuck. I was putting Mikaere into his car seat when I felt his gastrostomy button pop out of his stoma. I heard his stomach contents dribble out and – fuck – was my first thought.

It was raining. It was just me and Kai and we were in the back streets of an unfamiliar suburb. I did a quick search, and sure enough, the nearest changing places facility (basically, a public toilet with a changing bench bigger than a baby changing table) is just over 15 miles away. Blah.

Mikaere’s button pops out all the time, and usually it’s no big deal. But we’re 40 minutes from home and I know he can’t have the button out for that long without it beginning to close. (Considering it was surgery to put it in, closing is not an option).

So, I do what I always do when I’m in a tight spot, which is move him to the boot of the car and take care of it. So I do, changing him, deflating the button and putting it back in with the gear we carry around with us in the emergency bag.

But I think how undignified for him. How cold and uncomfortable and just – not ideal for all of this to take place in the boot of my car, with the door pulled low to keep out the rain.

But the thing is, there aren’t enough safe places around where I could change him. Places with a long enough changing table to make it safe. Baby changing tables are everywhere, but they’re too short for him.

As I change him out of his vomity clothes, I think how awful that the quick, easy solution is here. Where anyone can walk by, where the breeze is cold.

I hate this. I hate that this is our life. The special needs life is just awful. I’m glad it was quick, but I wish we had the facilities nearby to manage without resorting to the boot of the car.

Also, as he gets bigger, the boot of the car isn’t going to cut it. What are we going to do then?!

Oct 07
0

On an awful morning

By | #teammikaere | No Comments

It’s just gone 5am, and Sam’s moved out into the lounge to sleep and I’m playing it fast and loose by moving Mikaere into our bed. He’s on o2, but despite it his heart rate is through the roof, his respiratory rate is ridiculous – he’s working hard to breathe.

There are tubes and wires everywhere, and Mikaere is frustrated at the mask on his face and keeps tangling his fingers in all the tubes.

I’m trying really hard to hold it together. But I hate this. I hate that my baby is struggling. I hate that we have to have monitors and alarms and tanks of o2 by our bedside. I hate that at this point I don’t know whether we’ll still be here in bed in the next hour or in a&e.

We all desperately need the sleep. Sam’s night ‘shift’ finished only three scant hours ago when he finally got to go to bed, and I’m run down and exhausted and poor kaikai, he needs the recovery time. Instead he’s thrashing about trying to get his mask off, and the stats monitor is kicking off because his heart rate is too high. (A typical heart rate for a sleeping toddler is between 80 – 120 beats per minute. The stat monitor reads 173 beats per minute right now. That’s me in the middle of a HIIT class!).

It’s just, Kai being ill is such a trial. And I hate this. I think frequently about how neurotypical parents get to go to sleep at night and not worry whether they’ll end up in the a&e before their alarm goes off. About how they’re not woken by stat monitors, heart racing as they try see if their baby is blue or not.

I hate the special needs life, you guys. It’s so royally awful, and my baby suffers and there’s no way to fix this

I read a book a while back, called ‘Was this the plan?’ about a special needs Mum and how she managed her through daughters life and again through her husbands trial with cancer. She says frequently that you can’t do anything about the cards you’re dealt, but you can decide how you play them. BS, is what I think. There’s no good way to play these cards. There is no way to accept the unacceptable. There is no way I’m going to be okay with my son living a life of pain and suffering. With my baby living a life less than what everyone else expects and enjoys.

And if I’m being honest, that entire book was a factual recount of an awful series of events, pain, grief and death. What was missing was any kind of emotional accounting. That’s what would have been helpful to me. How to manage these roiling emotions when life is one emergency after the next, when you don’t have any emotional capacity left and you’re in the dark place.

Because that’s what I want to know. How do I survive this grief, when I don’t even know whether we’re all going to get through this morning?

Nov 12
1

On Stat monitors and o2 levels

By | #teammikaere | No Comments

There are two little red numbers on the stat monitor, and I’m staring at them, willing them to go up. 92. 92. 92. 92.

92 is too low. I know the guidelines. He’s got to stay above 94 on 1L or less. I check the tank (is oxygen even coming out of this thing? Is there even any oxygen in there? But the needles on green, when I pull out the tube and crank it up I can hear the o2 rush out).

92. 92. Maybe he just needs a minute. I’ve put him down and he’s just fallen asleep. Asleep is when we need to pay attention, when he’s not moving about or working as hard. 92. 92. 92. 92.

Is the stat monitor probe even on correctly? I peel back the blanket to look at Kai’s chubby toes. He’s still, and the little red light is steady and exactly where I left it. It’s not the monitor. 92. 92.

I put the blanket back and reposition the mask slightly, bothering Mikaere in his sleep.

92. 92. 92.

Do I call our nurses? Not yet. I already know they’ll say if he can’t stay about 94 we have to go back into hospital. I don’t want to go onto the ward. I will, if I have to, but I don’t want to. He’ll catch something else there for sure, and I don’t fancy living in a half metre gap along side his hospital bed, sleeping on a plastic armchair that folds flat. With no sleep for anyone, gross showers and shitty food. No thanks.

92. 92….

Do I crank up the o2? Just to see if 1L isn’t enough?

Just as I reach over to the tank, the light flicks to 93. 94. 95. 96.

The relief is overwhelming. It’s not 92. He just needed a minute. I’m on edge, and have been the last few days. He’s back into the safe zone. I feel like I can breathe again.

We’re not in hospital yet, hey? Thank fuck for that.

Oct 29
1

On being in the A&E

By | #teammikaere | 2 Comments

Mikaere’s had the once over by several people. His nurses have taken bloods, he’s had a nebuliser and is on o2. His gas and air look good (his lactates especially), his temp is holding steady and we had a visit from a PICU Nurse we know who came in to say hey.

So no red giant flags, and I have a chance between consultants to go get breakfast.

And as I’m walking down the familiar halls to M&S I think Saturdays are the best days to be here. There are less people in the hospital today. We had the bonus of coming in early, just after the shift change but before all the other kids had enough time to hurt themselves and fill up the a&e waiting room.

Is it weird that I think all this? That I know the time shift change happens? That I know when the lulls and peaks of our a&e are? That I come armed with a cheat sheet that answers 99% of the nurses/drs questions, and the two questions I’m asked (what is blood test for glycine on the system as – amino acid blood profile – and what colour is the bottle – green) – I can answer without really thinking about.

Our last a&e visit was months ago. MONTHS ago. I guess this is the winter season kicking off, right after a week of appointments and therapies after the summer break. I’m not happy we’re here, but now that we are I’m not panicking about it, too much. I’m hopefully we’ll make it home this afternoon sometime.

—-

A few hours later and I’m worried. We’re still in the A&E majors, Mikaere’s still on o2 and sleeping, but he’s not holding his o2 levels above 92%. We need 94% or higher. We up the rate to 1L. That’s the borderline dose. It’s not a super high dose of o2… but any higher and we’re staying over.

The nurse notes say they’ve booked a bed upstairs on the ward (just in case) and I’m positive that if this was any other kid, or if I hadn’t expressed my concerns about the risks of being on the ward we’d be up there already for observation rather than down here. But down here is safer. Down here the A&E majors is filled with broken bones and a girl with ENT drama. There are no other chest infections or mystery illnesses in our room. The ward I know is probably filled with more things that pose a risk.

So we wait, we see. The idea is that the longer on o2 he is the easier it’ll be for him. His body won’t have to work so hard, he’ll have more in the tank for recovery. Or so we hope.

I’m worried though. I don’t want to go up to the ward. That’s the start of the path towards deterioration and I’m scared that each escalation will mean a step toward terminal.

But we’re not there yet. We’re not. We’re just in A&E still, just in observation. We’ll see.

—-

The bloods are back. The chest xray clear. But Dr Erin has a game plan. She called our apartment a mini hospital. We have suction, a stat monitor and oxygen. We have all the medical equipment that Mikaere’s currently making use of on A&E.

I think that’s our saving grace. Kai’s just barely managing to keep his stats up with o2, and we’re able to wean to 0.5L when he’s awake. It’s a small wean, but it’s enough. We’re  discharged with very strict instructions of what to look for and when to come back. We have nurses calling to check in, and with a discharge note we’re waved off.

Mikaere’s not any better than he was this morning, but he’s not any worse. I was right to put him on o2 it turns out + I’m grateful for the reassurance.

Kai’s ill. He’s not holding his o2 levels up by himself. But we’re home. Thank fuck for that.

Oct 26
0

On the first hospital visit of the season

By | #teammikaere | No Comments

And just like that our little man is back on oxygen, working overtime to keep his o2 levels up (and failing). It’s the first stupid cold of the season. We had a nurse overnight and when I walked in this morning she was just getting ready to wake us – Mikaere’s o2 level was sitting at 89%. Typically it’s at 99% – 100%. 89% is LOW. Lower than I’d like, lower than anyone would like. And you could see it. My baby was struggling to breathe. His breath was fast and shallow, he had a tug and an intercostal pull. He was working overtime to breathe.

We have tanks of o2 sitting in the spare room for moments like this, and I pulled one out, grabbed an o2 mask. It’s been forever since he’s needed o2, and you can tell, because the mask is too tight on his face. He’s outgrown the paediatric baby o2 masks. Regardless, it does the job. I watch with relief as his o2 climbs back up to more normal levels, settling at 96%. In the safe zone. He relaxes a little, he doesn’t have to work as hard. Poor baby has a temperature, and we give him Calpol.

I take pause. Get dressed, say goodbye to our night nurse. Sam and I discuss whether we should go into hospital. He makes coffee and I think about calling our community nurse. His levels are fine on o2, but he hasn’t need o2 in I don’t know how long. He’s clearly got a cold of some kind. If it’s a cold, we probably could manage it just fine at home. We have o2, we have stat monitors and suction machines. He sounds a little rattly, but I’m pretty sure it’s all upper airway.

If I call our community nurse looking for reassurance, she’ll ask us to go into hospital. Go into hospital. Complex needs. Difficult case. Better safe than sorry. Go into hospital. They always tell us to go into hospital ‘just to be safe’. Everyone is scared of taking the chance to say does he really need to go right now? What are the risks? Benefits? It’s all go into hospital, and go now. The risks of being wrong is too high.

But the hospital isn’t safe for us. Mikaere could very well catch something else from the hospital. Something worse. Plus, it’s loud and tiring and disrupts our routine, and I’d really like NOT to spend our Saturday in the A&E.

In saying that… he hasn’t needed o2 in forever.

I make the call anyway, knowing she’ll send us in and alert the paeds registrar for us. Also, on a Saturday morning at 8am, none of the other kids have had a chance to hurt themselves yet. Their parents will just be waking up and they’ll take longer to decide to take their sick kids into the A&E. If we left in the next 15 minutes, we’d make it in just after the shift change when the paediatric A&E is quiet. I mean, if you’re going to go in, might as well time it for non-peak time, right?

Sure enough, our community nurse said to go in.  So off we go. We’re on our way into hospital. 🙁

Jul 28
2

On cancelling

By | #teammikaere | No Comments

Ahhh. Before Mikaere I couldn’t understand people who flaked. People who would agree to a time and date and event and just not show or would make excuses or whatever – I really struggled to empathise. As a person, I might be late but I prioritise getting there. If I say I’m going to be there, I am.

Today Mikaere and I were set to see a friend and her sweet 6 month old baby. It had taken us month to pin down a date and it was going to be in a lovely pub with a beer garden and the weather forecast was set to perfect. Except that just before 7am we were woken by our night nurse. Mikaere had a temperature. His chest was junky. He had a cold.

Womp. Wooooooooooooommmmppp. The offshoot of this is the more seizures he has as his body attempts to fight it off. Which has the delightful second effect of more vomits as he can’t handle the secretions when seizing. So much vomit.

I hate this. Was it because we were at the hospital yesterday? Because we had friends with kids over for dinner? Was it the small boy who made a beeline for Mikaere’s buggy and touched him before anyone could stop him? Was it someone at Sam’s work? Was it a stranger while we were on one of our walks?  Was it because I’ve been a bit more lax with the sterilising? That I just washed his spoons in soapy water and didn’t run them through the steriliser? I did say recently that it would be nice to build up Mikaere’s immune system a bit more, do less sterilising, have him hang out with more kids…

I’d forgotten how hard colds are Mikaere. So I take that all back, fuck building an immune system if it’s going to be so difficult for Mikaere to fight through.

I hate this. I hate that he’s sick. Hate that we’re constantly cancelling (I’m so, so sorry to everyone we’ve cancelled on, and I’m so grateful for your understanding and grace). I hate that my boy struggles so. Mostly I hate NKH. Positively loathe it. (So much so that I put it on a t-shirt and I wear it frequently).

Hopefully this cold will roll on by in the next day or two, but we’re battening down the hatches till it’s on it’s way. Send us immune-boasting-get-better thoughts.