Rollercoaster

The last few days have been something of a rollercoaster.

Holly was still being sick and thoroughly miserable on Thursday morning. The doctors were scratching their heads and admitting that they were struggling to get on top of it. Her temperature was also up and down. They called Amos and came back armed with a plan. They were going to take one anti-sickness med away and replace it with another that was run over a 24hr infusion into her Hickman line. If that didn't help there was also a Plan B.

The day passed uneventfully until late afternoon when the consultant came to ask if he could have a word. Privately. Now any oncology parent will tell you that this never brings good news. I was taken into a room and told that there had been a terrible mistake. The new med that was supposed to be run slowly over 24hrs had actually been put into Holly over the space of 1hr!!! I just stood there, I didn't even get angry stright away. I think I was probably just numb. How much more could my little girl's body take? They weren't sure what the effects would/could be. They told me first and then rushed off to speak to pharmacy to find out what could happen. I couldn't tell Holly, she didn't neeed to know at that point.

When the consultant came back I was told that she would probably just become sleepy as the med contained a sedative. The other possible effects were a drop in blood pressure, heart problems and her body could become distorted. They had an antidote on the ward just in case but wouldn't give it unless necessary. She would need constant heart and oxygen saturation monitoring, hourly observations which included the coma test (checking eyes and reflexes for any brain problems) and watching throughout the night. They brought in a nurse that would only be looking after Holly. I spent the evening watching her and the monitors. What else was going to be thrown at us?

Addenbrookes were aware of the situation but it was decided it wasn't safe to move her for 24hrs until they considered her stable.

She actually had an ok night. She had a relatively peaceful sleep despite all the constant monitoring. She is much brighter today, much to everyones relief. She has watched tv and been on her computer, something I haven't seen her do all week. I had been adamant last night that she was to be transferred to Addenbrookes today but things don't always work out that way. The ward was full. I accepted that she would have to stay at Lister but only because she had improved. I dread to think how difficult and heated discussions would have got had she still been so unwell. Amos is on call all weekend so I have been assured that I can speak to him at any time if I have any concerns.

We also found out today that the cause of Holly's high temp is a line infection. Now that this has been established the anti-biotics have been changed to those specific to attacking this bacteria.

We have had quite a few issues with the local hospital, mainly regarding the time taken to do blood products but this was our first stay and I was prepared to have an open mind. To say I am disappointed is an understatement. I have lost all my confidence in them. I have to trust them with my little girls life. We were lucky that nothing more serious happened, this isn't how it is supposed to be.