A Couple of weeks ago i was unfortunate enough to spend a week on a children’s ward. Needless to say it wasn’t great.
I had noticed J had started with a cough, which was nothing unusual being that he goes to preschool and his big sister brings home lots of germs from her school. I assumed it would pass. We then went away for the weekend and i noticed his cough seemed to get worse, to the point i slept in the same bed as him.. I say sleep but neither of us got any. I could tell he was working hard to breathe.
On the Monday we came home i called the doctors just to check it wasn’t on his chest. Having had problems with his breathing before i knew what the doctor would be checking for. When the doctor checked his oxygen levels i was secretly hoping that they would be mid nighties… alas no. He also had a wheeze. The next thing i know the doctor is giving us a hospital referral letter just for observation.
Having been in hospital before with J i just knew that we would be admitted, sure enough after some oxygen, nebuliser’s and a chest X-ray they kept us in.
Our stay on the children’s ward
I was really hoping that it would just be an overnight stay. However, his oxygen levels at night were very low so he had to have oxygen wafted around his bed. Because of this our overnight turned into a 6 night stay.
As i mentioned we have been admitted before now therefore i knew what to expect, as did J. The following morning after breakfast he wanted to head to the playroom.
There was quite a few things age appropriate he could play with. He was quite happy making a Dinosaur land train track. After a while though we both got a little fed up. There is a wonderful outdoor play area, however as it was a little bit chilly we didn’t go there very often due to being told he has a bad chest infection.
Hospital food
Well i am not so sure what to say about this. My child is picky at the best of the time. I would personally have eaten all of it. Hot puddings with custard everyday. Thankfully there was ice cream. Many of his meals consisted of chips and carrots. Fortunately his dad had bought in a bag of snacks and i had put some other food bits on the parents fridge for him.
Breakfast however was a whole different matter, he loves a good breakfast. What he thought was brilliant was breakfast in bed while watching tv. Kids tv channels are free from 6am and until 7pm.
Sleep
I use the word sleep loosely. I had a pull down chair to sleep on which was extremely uncomfortable. And when i did finally doze of i was woken by bleeping machines. J’s was particularly loud when it went off. I know the machines are vital for nurses to be able to look after the children. Ironically the last night in hospital is when i got the most sleep. I think i just got used to shutting out the noise.
J seemed to be sleeping well, however as each day went on he looked more and more tired. So he obviously wasn’t getting the best sleep.
We were allowed to get off the ward to have a little walk about, we found the cafe and they sold ice lollies, this was a welcomed treat for J. You can see how tired he was looking.
Things Start to Get Better
As time went on J was getting better, they had put him on stronger antibiotics and his levels were improving. If he was given Oxygen at night i knew we would be in another day. People came and went and we were still there.
J made friends with another little boy who showed us the sensory room. Having been in hospital three times i never knew about it. It is brilliant.
There are sensory lights and a great floor where there are interactive games. Above the floor is a projector which is controlled by a remote control. There are so many games. The nurse would happily give you the remote. J and his little friend had so much fun in there. It soon became our favourite place to be.
By this time we are on day 5. As the days and nights went on, J’s oxygen levels were improving and the nurses were doing their best to get us home. As i mentioned the night i got the best nights sleep on was the last night, that is because Joshua’s oxygen levels didn’t drop too low which meant his machine didn’t keep bleeping.
The Best News
On day 7 we were finally told we could go home. It was the most amazing news. J and I was very excited to be going home, although J did say he would miss the sensory den. On discharge we were told we would be called back in 6 weeks for a follow up x-ray. I imagine they want to make sure his lungs are ok after the severe infection.
It was a long, stressful week and i was operating on very little sleep. I am grateful for everything the doctors and nurses did for Joshua. The NHS really are truly amazing. Everyone at the hospital works so hard.
I really hope we wont be seeing the children’s ward again any time soon.
