When your kid is sick = Friday at RPA = 7.5 hours, triage blunder, fire = you have to laugh!!

When your kid is sick, no matter how their age, nothing else matters.

Friday we were at RPA with MJ in the throes of an asthma / viral attack. 

After four hours waiting blood was taken and a canula fitted ...

after five hours a triage nurse was asked what's happening ...

we'd never heard of a chronic asthmatic waiting this long?

Taaa Daaa ...

the initital triage nurse had recorded my girl had a fever and aches ...

no mention of asthma ...

instantly her record was flagged to see the next available doctor ...

we went back to waiting with her lying across the seats in emergency.

After six hours, a passing, local, nutter, started a fire in the ladies room ...

alarms rang, smoke billowed, water flooded ...

everyone was evacuated, we huddled just outside this door ...

in the cold night air.

After seven hours we were herded back into the emergency area!

The police came and took statements.

After seven hours and fifteen minutes we decided we were over it!

As my girl went to ask for the canula to be removed her name was called!

The sweetest Doc was full of apologies!

She listened, examined and tested ... 

my girl blew good numbers into that hideous blow and empty your lungs three times contraption ...

her lungs sounded clear, medication was changed!

All along my girl wouldn't let me have my Kodak moment ...

but in a split second I did ...

note the Macca's wrapping was not ours ...

my girl declared she was feeling the best she had for three days!

Could it have been the three bottles of water she'd consumed ...

the sandwich I'd taken that she'd picked at ...

the panadeine forte I'd slipped her ...

or was it the fun and games we'd been part of ???

Today she's markedly improved.

Today I took my mothering skills to her house ...

we had a punt on the Cox Plate ...

we laughed, we disagreed, we hung out ...

we still laughed about the fiasco that was yesterday!

Honestly being a Mum is the greatest no matter how old your kid is!

A Dad update ...

Dad's still battling on!

Battling with me, the nursing staff, the Geri Docs who he told to "Piss Off" and anyone in sight or earshot ... he's become and angry man.

He's had 'seizures' as well as mini strokes ... which may have some bearing on his changed nature.

After 12 days visiting, sitting while he sleeps, I'm taking a couple of days off.

On Thursday he was sitting out in one of chair beds. When I arrived he grunted and went promptly back to sleep.

A short time later he opened his eyes and said, "There's no need for you to be sitting there every day".

OK ...

Sunday Scribblings #82 - Hospital

Hospital memories abound, emotions unravelled by this prompt.

Top teeth removed at twelve, baby removed at seventeen, visiting mother year after year, over and over again. From mid 1960s memories became happier. Not ovulating didn’t deter. Twelve months on, the cherished arrival of a beautiful baby. Mother kept the hospital system going for over forty years as she envisioned cancer, sadly it arrived.

A laminectomy, hemithyroidectomy, appendix, frozen shoulder, father crying wolf, lessons learnt; treat medico’s as real people, they’ll treat you that way in return!

The very best hospital memories will always be :

During the 60s & 70s Vince Edwards as Dr Ben Casey what about Dr Zorba ?
Richard Chamberlain as Dr. Kildare.
Robert Young as Marcus Welby M.D. with James Brolin as Dr Steven Kiley.
Medical Center with James Daly as Dr. Paul Lochner and Chad Everett as Dr. Joe Gannon.

1970 – 1983 M*A*S*H.

Doogie Howser, M.D. from 1989- 1993
Chicago Hope
General Hospital that's run forever ...

ER began 1994 … is it still running?

In Australia in the 70s The Young Doctors, in the 80s A Country Practice, in 2000 RPA.

Now TV brings us Hugh Laurie as House or the team from Scrubs … there’s enough hospital in both of those sitcoms to last a lifetime!

p.s. Thanks to Gill for the Greys Anatomy reminder ... how did I miss that one after Izzy's heartbreaking performance? Thanks too to Paisley - I don't remember getting St. Elsewhere in Australia ... but then I was elsewhere in those days!!