On Friday Tom wasn't feeling well. He had developed a bad cough on Thursday and it stayed with him through the night. In the morning he got ready for school, but then I think he either pulled a muscle or got a stitch in his side as he screamed with pain (he has never been able to cope with pain). He got into such a state that there was no possible way I could take him to school, so we called them to say he wouldn't be in and then called the Dr for advice. The Dr asked us to pop in so we did. He gave us the all clear and said he was happy with him - it was OK to go away for the weekend, there was nothing wrong with him other than a cough.
So, we got ready to go away for the weekend, quite pleased with ourselves as Tom not being at school meant that we could leave earlier. This weekend was Dad's birthday weekend - our present to him was a weekend together with his family all in one place. His birthday was in February - it had taken this amount of time to find a weekend when we were all free and when we could find a holiday let big enough sort of midway between us all and which was free and not over-priced. We thought he would like that. I had found a place on the Staffordshire / Shropshire border quite close to Telford. A converted barn that sleeps 9. I was on dinner duty for the night so made up a huge lasagna, to go together with lots of garlic bread and salad, and packed that up with loads of other stuff. We were on our way at 2.30 feeling pretty smug.
It didn't last long, the traffic slowed down as soon as we hit the outskirts of Manchester. The motorway signs were saying long delays, so in the end we decided to leave the motorway and wind our way through the local roads. This was a big mistake, the local roads were jammed too and of course there were traffic lights, roundabouts, junctions etc that we had to struggle through unlike the motorway. I think we were managing about 10 miles an hour at one point! Oh hum, there was no way back, so we just had to deal with it. Tom was unaware of it at the start as he fell asleep in the car. In fact he fell asleep within the first 5 minutes of getting into the car, which is pretty unusual.
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| Our home for the weekend |
We finally got to the barn 4 hours after leaving Ingleton - it should have been a 2 hour journey!!!! However, the barn was lovely. Set in a very tranquil location, on a working farm. The cottage was very well set up - and very very child friendly: with John Deere ride on tractors, trampoline, a games room stuffed full of toys, scooters, footballs and goals - everything children could need. Fantastic. Tom went straight for the tractors and had a good pedal whilst we unloaded. He then came in to the cottage, looked around and collapsed on the sofa. In fact he fell asleep again on the sofa? He hasn't done that since he was a baby!!!!! When he woke up, he was feeling sorry for himself and said he wanted an early tea and to go to bed, so I made him his tea, he had a bath and went to bed. The plan was for Jake, Amber and Tom to share a room together, but Tom didn't even want to do that, he wanted to sleep with us, so we put him to bed and he fell asleep almost immediately.
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| The view from the house |
We went up to bed - Tom was asleep but breathing very strangely - he was breathing very quickly and quite deeply. Certainly I had never seen him breathe like that before. He kept stirring and was obviously struggling to sleep properly. In the end I got into bed with him to see if I could relax him and calm him down, but to no avail, he kept on breathing deeply and quickly. We then swapped round so Tom and I were in the double bed and Matt in the single bed, but once again to no avail. At this point there was a huge thunderstorm going on outside and it was hot and muggy in our room, so we took him downstairs where it was cooler. Unfortunately he was coughing more and more and we could now see his stomach going in and out in a very severe fashion we timed his breathing and counted a rate of 43 times a minute - surely that was too fast? We were both worried and convinced something wasn't right. Although when we asked him if he felt alright / if he thought he was breathing too hard he said no, he felt fine! We looked up the emergency number which is 111. I had to go for a walk around the courtyard to find a phone signal and then called it. I was told that lines were busy and to call back later. I tried at least 10 times and got the same message every time. Now what to do? Call 999 or take him to hospital ourselves, or leave him?
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| Tom's elephant impression |
We decided he needed to be looked at so we took him to the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford. We got there to an empty A&E department. We were seen by the triage nurse who told us 43 breaths per minute was normal for a 6 year old, I wasn't convinced, I had never seen him breath so quickly (I've since looked it up and 20 is normal!). Anyway, she admitted him to a room to be seen by a Dr. We had to wait ages, Tom fell asleep draped across the two of us. Finally after about 1.5 hours we were finally seen by a Dr (they were busy dealing with an emergency). She agreed that he wasn't right and was working too hard to breath. She gave him steroid medicine, antibiotics and put him on oxygen. He then went for a chest x-ray. Tom perked up big time with this - especially as he got to ride on a bed to the x-ray dept - he thought that was fantastic, so much so that he started singing!!!!!
He was then transferred to the children's assessment unit by wheelchair. There he was examined by two Drs and we were questioned about everything and anything. I even had to go through his birth with them, although curiously they never asked how he was fed as a baby. They told us he was going to be admitted to the children's ward, so Matt decided to go home for a sleep and let everyone know what was happening and left me with him. He was put on a nebuliser and oxygen whilst in the assessment centre during which he fell asleep so he was left to sleep whilst they debated his condition. What they came up with was that he was suffering with asthma due to a massive overload of allergies on his system. Apparently thunderstorms bring down pollen from the upper atmosphere (we had a huge thunderstorm on Wednesday night and of course there was one going on on Friday night), the field at the back of the house had been mown on Thursday, and he had a cough. All of these put together caused a massive attack on his system, the result of which was breathing problems. His oxygen saturation was dipping below 90% (anything below 93% is cause for concern) and he was breathing way too hard.
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| On oxygen |
When he woke up we were both given some breakfast and then he was transferred to the children's ward in his bed (another cool ride!). In the children's ward he was given nebuliser treatments and when he wasn't doing those, he was on oxygen. The deposits on his chest were causing him trouble, after a cough his oxygen levels would go up to 97% but then they would steadily decline again down to 90% until he coughed again. We went round and round in circles with it. However, the care was very good, his nurse, Debby was brilliant. Whenever anyone asked him how he felt, he always said 'Much better thank you!" He took all his treatments without any grumbling - a model patient.
Matt came back to the hospital just before lunchtime - he came with Dad who then transported me home (went wrong twice on the way home - I was so tired, I couldn't remember the way!). During his time with Matt, he was taken off the nebuliser and started using an inhaler as treatment. It was all going very well. I went back to the barn, just missed out on seeing Clare, Simon, Jake and Amber who had headed to Shugborough Hall. I made myself a sandwich, had a shower and went to bed. I got about 2 hours sleep, but woke up in a huge sweat, so had another shower. Mum and Dad had been out to Norbury Junction for a walk along the canal and lunch but were back. We spent some time chatting and then we all headed back to the hospital. Mum and Dad sat with Tom whilst Matt and I went for coffee to chat. It had been a rather emotional day. The nursing staff had tried Tom with oxygen through the nose - but he didn't like it so he reverted back to a mask.
Matt then went back to the barn with Mum and Dad and went to the pub with everyone for dinner whilst I stayed with Tom. I thought being in a children's ward, they would make sure everyone went to bed quite early, but no it was past 10pm before beds were pulled out for the parents and lights dimmed. I was beside myself with tiredness!
It wasn't a relaxing night. Tom fell asleep and almost immediately his oxygen levels dropped below 90%. Apparently this is normal for children. The first Dr was going to leave him until the morning, but his boss overrode him and put him back on a programme of nebulisers and oxygen. It was a busy night. He started off on 1 hourly nebulisers, then 2 hourly and then by 4am he was on 3 hourly. He had soooooo many visits from Drs and nurses, there was hardly a time when he (we) we by ourselves. Luckily, Tom was so knackered he stayed asleep for most of the treatments. He only woke once, and he cried - not surprising, being attached to a nebuliser and people stood all around him. However, he got back to sleep and was blissfully unaware of any more treatments. Cathy, his nurse was absolutely amazing, treating him with so much respect. She was rushed off her feet, but was always cheerful, helpful and respectful. She held the mask to his face, whilst I stroked his arm - to stop him automatically pulling the mask off. We allowed him one rub of the nose and then he was OK. Unfortunately the drugs in the nebuliser made me sneeze - so I was holding his arm down with one hand and desperately trying to blow my nose with the other hand (have you ever tried to blow your nose with one hand - it is really hard to do!) I probably kept the other mum in the ward awake with it all but there was nothing I could do!
Finally at 4am, I was able to lie down and get some sleep. I got a full 2 hours before the Drs visited again with another and last nebuliser. By this time Tom was a bit shaky, this was normal as he had inhaled a lot of drugs. Matt arrived at the hospital around 7.30 so I got up. We then had to wait an AGE for the Dr. Having had way too many visits during the night, they now disappeared. It was almost noon before one turned up. Prognosis - Tom has to stay in for another night to prove he can sleep without oxygen levels going down. Poo! I was hoping for him to escape in time for the BBQ.
So, I left Matt at the hospital and headed back to the barn for the BBQ lunch. It was a very lovely lunch. We ate outside in the sunshine, the kids were OK, we all got along fine. Then the rain came down big time and we ran inside.
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| Bloke doing BBQ! |
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| Nice BBQ - shame two people are missing |
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| Jake and Amber smiling at the same time! |
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| Impossible to get them all to look at the camera at the same time! |
Tom and I were left together for the rest of the afternoon. I had to fight sleep for a while and was relieved to see Matt arrive, knowing that I would be able to lie down soon. I left them together and drove to the barn.
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| Together for a few minutes |
After a tea of posh cheese and biscuits (this was a Branch outing after all!) I had another shower and thankfully lay down in bed. I was asleep in seconds and was out cold until 6.30. I went out to find a signal for my phone and asked Matt how they got on. Tom went 9 hours with no inhaler - hurray - surely he will be released today! Matt managed to get some sleep - the other girl in the ward didn't wake up, so it was as quiet as can be for a hospital.
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| Finally sleeping peacefully |
We headed to Sam's Cafe (an old haunt) for bacon sandwiches and then continued up North back home. We got home around 4.30, very very happy. What a weekend!
Not exactly what we had planned and we never managed to have everyone in one place - so Dad's birthday present didn't exactly work out - sorry! However, I think we made the most of what time we had. If we do this again, maybe we should do it in the Winter?
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