30th March 2011....

....Our first night home with Maisie wasn't too bad, because my mum and Grandma were still here they stayed in Hailie's room, as Hailie the madam was in our bed! I got into bed with Hailie and Alan crashed out on the sofa. Maisie surprisingly only woke twice through the night, which I thought was brilliant for a first night home....

....We took Maisie over to the school to get Hailie, which Hailie loved, and of course in true 8 year old style, she wanted to show Maisie's cast off to all her friends...that night wasn't too bad either Maisie went to bed at 8.30pm-ish, woke at 11.30pm-ish, it was then that we had to get her up and cuddle her, Maisie went back to bed around 1.30am....

Steph xxxx

29th March 2011.......HOMEEEEEEEEEEEEE

.....When we spoke to the nurses this morning, we were told that as long as the paediatric and medical doctors were happy with the way Maisie is, then we should be able to go home!!! Fingers crossed...

...We eventually saw the paediatric doctors, who said that from their point of view, Maisie's open reduction was a success, there was no complications, and they only needed to do the reduction, there was no need to do the osteotomy, which is fab, however we do have to wait for the medical doctors to say that they are happy for Maisie to be discharged and allowed home....

....Seen the medical doctor in the afternoon, Maisie is fine to go home, but they want her to have some anti-biotics as something is slightly raised in her blood results, so we just have to wait for pharmacy to bring down her paracetamol, nurofen and co-amoxiclav anti-biotic...once they have arrived on the ward the nurses can arrange for an ambulance to take Maisie home on a stretcher....we all know what the pharmacy dept is like in a hospital....."how Long's a piece of string" as to how long the meds will take to come down, oh well, its worth the wait if we get to go home....

....It would have been around 5pm when Maisie's meds were ready, but then her temperature went back up...so the nurses had to get the medical doctor to come and check her over to make sure that she was safe enough to go home as planned! We waited around half a hour for the medic to come and see her, she spent a while reading through Maisie's notes, checking what had been going on over the last 6 days. She came and did some checks on Maisie, and told us that her temperature wasn't that bad as it was the higher side of 37oc, she was happy for us to manage her temperature at home, but stated that should we be unable to control it we would have to bring her back...which we were fine with doing! The nurses booked an ambulance at 6.30pm, and we just had to wait for them to arrive. Maisie fell asleep around 7.30pm, while she was asleep I packed her stuff up from around her cot so that we would be ready to leave as soon as transport came for us....

.....9pm came, still no sign of transport, the nurses tried to ring them to find out how long they would be as it was getting late, but they couldn't get any information on it! Maisie woke up and it was time for her to have paracetamol and anti-biotics, which the nurse gave to her from the drug trolley off the ward. Alan went back to Stevenson House where we had been staying to pack up our stuff, as we both weren't allowed in the ambulance for insurance purposes Alan's mam Maggie was going to take Alan home with all our bags. 10pm came and I was given the thumbs up from the nurse, transport was here, they were just on their way down to the ward....FANTASTIC....we got Maisie comfy on the stretcher, legs propped nicely and they covered her in a blanket to keep her warm and put the strap across her just to be on the safe side, they did ask if I wanted to sit with her on my lap on the stretcher, but there was not a chance I would have been able to hold Maisie for that long, she was really heavy and although I had some confidence with the handling of a child in a Spica Cast, I thought it would be best if she was on it on her own for her comfort. We got home around 11pm, when we got off the ambulance, the driver apologised for it taking as long as it did but he didn't want to go too fast and hit little bumps in the road, so that the journey didn't cause any additional trauma to Maisie, which was really nice....

....I also got to keep the blanket they had wrapped Maisie in lol, oh well never mind, they never asked for it back once they had helped us inside with the bags that I had with me =)....but finally were home and ready to start Maisie's Hippy Adventure.....

Steph xxxx

28th March 2011....

....Things aren't too good, Maisie was sick through the night, & her temperature went back up! The doctor has put her back on the higher dose of the saline drip...during the day Maisie did pull this drip out, and because it was on her wrist (where all the veins are) and Maisie pulled and pushed the cannula, she has hit her tissue's with it, which has caused a little lump to form where the cannula was placed. For now they are going to leave the drip out and see how she goes...

.....Maisie did need more Ora-morph today to help with her pain! Maisie surprised us today with it though, because within a few hours she was as ok as can be after having morphine, but did kind of smile with me for a photograph =).....

....We really want to go home, we know she will start to recover better in her own surroundings and we can control the heating, rather than be in what seems to be a constant sauna on the Children's Ward...I know it has to be like that, but it really is no wonder Maisie's temperature wont stabilize in a very hot environment...hopefully we can go home soon, just need Maisie to pick up eat and drink enough for the docs to give her the all clear to come home....

Steph xxxx

27th March 2011...

....Maisie is soooo much better today, they took her off her drip first thing to see if that would prompt her to get thirsty and drink something! For her dinner she ate a small milky bar, a few small spoons of custard and half a bag of quavers!!!! Fair enough its not the best of food, and the doctor wasn't that impressed that was what she had had to eat, but from mine and Alan's point of view, something is better than nothing at all, if Maisie had turned down the milky bar we would have had major concerns, because she loves a milky bar!...

.....By 6.30pm Maisie's temperature had gone back up, this time it was 38.9oc, wouldn't eat any tea, but she did drink 3oz of milk....

...Lets hope for a better day tomorrow...

Steph xxxx

26th March 2011....

....Yet another day on the drip, Maisie still hasn't eaten or drank anything, which is a growing concern! So they upped her saline drip to compensate what she's not drinking herself, but she cannot stay on the drip forever. Maisie was more perkier today, which is fantastic, & the paracetamol & nurofen controlled her pain, so no Ora-morph today =) The doctor also took another blood test today to check her liver function, should have the results tomorrow.....

....It was a "better" day with Maisie today, had a few, and i mean a few, smiles off her. Which was really lovely to see, she did try and play about with her drip, but we did manage to distract her from pulling it all out...

Steph xxxx

What a fright.....25th March 2011

......Me and Alan were asleep back at Stevenson House and it was 3.30am, Alan didn't feel too good and had the runs, all of a sudden my mobile started ringing. It was a withheld number, I answered it with caution whilst thoughts of...." who could it be? only the hospital would be ringing at this time! its Maisie! theres something wrong! whats wrong? oh i hope its nothing serious!"..... spun around my head in a split second! As I answered the phone, it was the hospital, Maisie's temperature had shot up to 39.7oc and she wasn't well, instantly i replied with " I'll be there in 20 Min's, just let me get dressed" I leaped out of that bed, I have never in my whole life got out of a bed so fast, and started to get dressed, Alan turned around and asked what was the matter, so i explained what the nurse had told me, he jumped out of bed too and got ready while feeling so ill! Although he knew he couldn't come in with me in case he had an D&V (although he had not been sick so far) he didn't want me to walk through the streets of Whitechapel at almost 4am! Alan walked with me to the hospital so I wasn't alone, and he waited outside until I came out with some more news! As I briskly walked onto the ward, all was silent, Maisie wasn't properly asleep, but she had calmed down and was relaxed....once I was there the Doctor came over, and explained that they wanted to take some Blood Cultures which take 48 hours to come back which will show if there's any infection, plus they wanted to take a chest x-ray to see if there was any infection because she is only just post-op! Getting bloods wasn't easy, they tried getting blood from the top of her hand (palm down) there was no vein to be seen, so the doctor went in where the vein should be, but found nothing, she then went in the top of Maisie's foot, again went in blind, nothing there either, so she went in Maisie's wrist on the tiniest vein, and managed to get the cannula in and get some blood from her, as she already had a cannula in her other hand which was giving her saline, they decided to give her i.v antibiotics too. Then a lady came around at about 5am with an x-ray machine and took an x-ray of Maisie's chest....

.....I saw the doctor again around 8am, and she told me Maisie had a very mild chest infection, which was most probably caused by the gas that they use to put her to sleep and the device they put in her throat while she was in surgery. The doctor did also say that she will be getting the consultant to double check that it is mild and that there is nothing more serious there!.....

.....By 9am, Maisie was still very unsettled and seemed to be in a lot of pain, and she hadn't long had some paracetamol and nurofen, so the nurses said that they were going to give her some Ora-morph (oral morphine), after they had given her the Ora-morph they brought her a slice of toast, but she wouldn't eat or drink anything By the time it was 10.20am Maisie was so drowsy, but within 15 minutes she was asleep, so I left the ward. Alan met me outside the hospital and we went to get some cash and something to eat, and we got Alan some Imodium.....

......When I got back to the ward, Maisie was fast asleep, which I expected her to be, especially after the Ora-morph. One of the nurses told me that Maisie needed to have a CT scan done over her cast just to check that the hip was still in a good position! Maisie was called at around 1-2pm for the CT scan, I stood in the room with her to make sure she didn't try and attempt to roll off the bed.....CT didn't take long at all, I doubt it was even a minute, we then took her back to the ward, and she fell back to sleep....

.....I had spoken to the nurse about Alan not feeling well, and she asked me what was wrong with him, so I told her that he had the runs, but had not beed sick, and that his last runny poo was the night before. The nurse told me that as long as he hasn't been sick with it, then its not D&V and he can come onto the ward to see Maisie, as Alan was going crazy not being able to see her, knowing what a bad time she was having, he was so relieved when I told him he was allowed in, not that there was much light to Maisie, she was still really drowsy off the Ora-morph. Maisie did not eat or drink anything all day, and was asleep really early. Me and Alan had left the hospital at around 6.30 because she was sound asleep.....

Steph xxxx

The Big "Operation" Day......24th March 2011

....Maisie was starved from 2am, she was woken by the nurses at around 1am to have a bottle of milk. They had informed us when we arrived at the Hospital at 8am that Maisie was first on the list, but that we had to wait for "them" to phone the ward to say they were ready for her! We sat and played with her until the nurse came over at 8.40am and told us that they were ready for Maisie, we asked if we would both be allowed in while Maisie was anaesthetised, the nurse said we should both go up, but ultimately it would be up to the anesthetist if we could both be there.....I carried Maisie around the hospital to the anaesthetic's room, to which he said we were both allowed to be with her until she fell asleep!....

.....Once we were in the room, we were asked to confirm Maisie's date of birth. I then sat on a hard chair positioned next to a stretcher type bed, Alan sat on his heels in front of where my knee's were, stroking Maisie's legs. The anaesthetist then brought over a very small mask, which covered Maisie's mouth and nose. Maisie did not like the mask over her face, tried to pull it off and tried to move her head away from it. I held her hands down and cupped as much of her head between my arm and chest, while the anethiatist held the other side of her head to prevent her from moving. Her cries we really intense, and the gas stank, I started crying with her....and for what felt like an eternity, but most probably less than a minute, Maisie was floppy, we then gently placed her onto the bed, mask still over her face and we left the room, Alan gave me a much appreciated cuddle, then we left and went back towards the ward with the nurse.....

....While Maisie's operation was going to last approximately 2 hours, and they were still unsure as to what procedure they were going to do on her, obviously they had to do the Open Reduction, but the surgeons pre-warned us that she may need to have an Osteotomy done at the same time, but that it all depended on how the Reduction went. With 2 hours to kill, and not knowing Whitechapel at all, we went for a little wander to find a cash point....found a bank...now only me and Alan could do this....we both looked at the title of the bank, which was IBB thought nothing of it, I continued to put my card in, for the cash point to spit it back at me, as we looked around the building, we saw the bank was one of those banks that only accepts its own cards and was called the Islamic Bank of Britain!! So we carried on walking, and eventually found a cash point that would take my card. We went for something to eat, not that we really wanted to eat anything but we knew we had to, pottered about for a bit then went back to the hospital to wait for them to let us know we could go and get our baby...

....Recovery phoned the ward at around 11.30am to say Maisie was awake and in recovery! So we went up with the nurse and as we walked into the recovery room Maisie was laid their in the hospital cot, as we got near the cot Maisie took a great lunge, grabbed the bars and flung herself round, I panicked as I hadn't been told or shown how to hold her yet or how to deal with her, the recovery room staff gently pulled her round and laid her back down, to which Maisie kicked off at. They asked me if I wanted to hold her, which of course I did. I sat on the chair provided and they placed Maisie on my knee. I have to say I did not like the look of it, or the feel of it and was quite freaked out by it, they then gave her to Alan to hold, then we made our way back to the ward with her....where she spent the rest of the day asleep mostly....

Steph xxxx