Temperature 38.9 c

Temperature 38.9…which means we are back in hospital. Anna is not feeling good and didn’t want to smile for a photo.

Anna’s cough and cold worsened overnight, she was sick and her temperature spiked over 38 degrees.

The routine is then:

We phone ward 2 (leukaemia/oncology ward where Anna is usually treated)
They tell us to come straight through A&E
In A&E Anna is assessed – temperature, blood reassure and respiratory rate
If available, one of the nurses from ward 2 comes down to A&E so Anna knows them (although the A&E nurses tend to know us by now!)
Her gripper is put in (‘plugged’ in to the port underneath her skin) using freeze spray to numb the pain of the needle
Blood samples are taken through the port and an initial dose of intravenous antibiotics are given
Calpol is given orally to reduce temperature
Mouth and throat swabs are taken
Then we are moved up to ward 2 when a bed or cubicle is available and more antibiotics are given through a drip.

There are 6 cubicles on ward 2. We’ve stayed in most of them, except for cubicle 6 which is the 5* room as it has both a window and a toilet. Rooms 1-4 have a window looking out on to the car park but no toilet. The nearest toilet for parent is out of the ward, which is more than a bit inconvenient in the night. I do not like wandering around the hospital at 3 in the morning in my pyjamas when no one else seems to be around. Room 5 has a toilet but no external window. I think, weighing it all up, I prefer a toilet to a window for a short stay!

A fold down bed fits in each room for parents to sleep overnight.

This used to be the only ward in the hospital where parents were allowed into the kitchen. Many of the children here are long stay (like we’ve been), or have particular food requirements when on steroids. It just made sense to let us do their food. However, since a parent accidentally left a plastic lid on a hot hob ring, causing fire and evacuation, parents are no longer allowed in the (newlyfitted) kitchen. We can leave food in the fridge but have to ask for it. We can’t prepare food for ourselves or Anna and have to go either elsewhere in the hospital or across the road to the CLIC house. That is why I’ll be wandering the corridors of this hospital later with a hot prawn makhani and microwave heated naan bread.

And we are not allowed any tea or coffee on the ward at all. It’s all a bit grim. Hopefully we will be out early next week!

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