Monday 23 November 2009

Yet another 48 hours of my life I will never see again

I am beginning to ache for the dull normality of a normal weekend, the kind when you clean the toilet and go to the gym. This one started badly because the kitchen drain was blocked and guess who always gets to stick her hand down that to clear it? Oh yes, I get all the best jobs in this house. I was dressed for the gym which I would normally visit after frog marching the dog around the park.
After the gym comes shopping and cooking then somewhat reluctantly some cleaning as well as dealing with the Eiger sized pile of washing. Meanwhile Leyla goes to Turkish school. Only this morning a lump in Leyla's groin had swelled becoming so inflamed she had trouble walking. So we did what all good parents do..Yep we Googled it. We self diagnosed a hernia, we phoned the Dr who told us to go to A&E and we then debated the merits of going private or risking NHS. We plumped for the later using our old address to get into Lewisham, which lacks the glamour but has a brilliant children's A&E.
So of course we were wrong, it was not a hernia, but after several hours, one ultrasound scan and three consultants later it was diagnosed as swollen lymph glands caused by a severe viral infection. Even then I thought we would poddle off to pick up a prescription, but no, the shock at discovering that whilst she looked superficially chirpy, she was in fact very ill, and so she was admitted into hospital for some 'aggressive' medication.
I cried. She has dined out on that one all weekend. Plus, for a child deprived of TV most days this to Leyla was a holiday camp!


For me, the mother, it was purgatory. I luckily had a book with me, Emin went and got me a toothbrush and a takeaway and then I slept on a fold away bed, well dozed sporadically through a cacophony of bleeps and cries and wails of the various other patients. After a poor start she began to respond well to treatment and hallelujah we were out by Sunday afternoon.
Which is when I finally got to go shopping, cook, clean, walk the dog, pick the girls up from their dads, write a history essay for Kitty and finally have a bath.

5 comments:

miss milki said...

oh poor you, poor Leyla. But is that seriously a tv that pulls down in front of the bed? That's so cool! Never seen a hospital with that before! :)

indigo16 said...

Oh yes, things have moved on since I spent the night in a hospital, and you should have seen the bed! Leyla pressed EVERY button to create a comfortable position, but even she was glad to come home.

Miss Cavendish said...

Hi; found you through Mater's blog . . . What a difficult weekend. Funny how things happen just as one is ready to go the the gym/leave for a run/go to get one's hair (finally) touched up.

materfamilias said...

Trust you to at least get one great photo out of the ordeal -- I won't say it's quite a silver lining, but it's a wee bit of compensation, no?
I do remember that groan of recognition that a child's illness is going to change all one's plans -- and that one is supposed to be gracious and sympathetic (and not whiney) to boot, even if it means cancelling a long-anticipated lunch with girlfriends or even just losing two hours alone in an empty house. You have my sympathy, for what it's worth.

RoxyBlue said...

So what was the history essay about?