And so onto 2010

It is New Year’s Eve and another 12 months has disappeared. It’s been a mixture of good, bad and woeful. Being back at home this past week has been great, Jude has bounced back well and is starting to show himself again. Those little signs that we cling to are coming back. Maybe he can see more than he lets on such is his apparent interest in the mirror he lies next to. Does he recognise incey wincey spider when I sing it to him? He always reacts in some way.

2010 is my 40th year. They say with age comes wisdom, I just seem to have collected a variety of aches and pains, a few inches around the waist and a fair degree of clutter. I checked in the dictionary and none of these things count as wisdom. But it is not wisdom I seek as a New Year resolution, nor a cure for my ailments…..hope is what I want from 2010, just hope.

Happy New Year. And thanks.

My Best Christmas Present …..

Jude at home with us in his bed – Happy Christmas everyone.

Nearly back home.

Jude was transferred from the High Dependency Unit at the Childrens Hospital to our local hospital this evening. We’re starting to see Jude again – the occassional smile and he was laughing in his sleep.  He is sooo much better and we feel like we got away with this one. I had a look at his X-Rays this evening and one of his lungs was almost completely white which in X-Ray terms really isn’t good.

Originally they were talking of possible ventilation and with Jude’s underlying problems this is risky, we were told more than once that getting a child like Jude off ventilation can be difficult. Thankfully it wasn’t required and I’m optimistic that we’ll have our little man back for Christmas.

It’s been a rough week made bearable by the support of family and friends. Thanks one and all.

Yesterday we managed to spend some time with Nathan and Joseph. I took the two of them to see Avatar at the IMAX – an incredible experience, great film and then in the afternoon had a walk around Birmingham’s German Market which was cold…..

Oh, and the Wolves won 2-0 to propel us to mid table half way through the season.

Daddy’s Boy

Nuff said x

Three Very Important Letters…..

No it’s not I ❤ U! It's HDU, and why are they so important to us? Because Jude was moved about 6.30 last night from intensive care to HDU. He had had a more settled day and had needed no sedation, he'd also been breathing alot better, only needing 40% oxygen yesterday afternoon. That said he wasn't that impressed at being messed with and moved whilst swapping his bed having quite a scream at us, but hey, I got to hold my boy for the first time in three days, so I could live with that. Jude also had his eyes open and did seem alot less dazed and confused.

It's a bit hard to take a decent picture of a child when they've got wires and tubes everywhere, but Jude was alot more relaxed yesterday and the picture I took I think shows this.

Another update…..

….but not much of one.

Jude is stable but heavily sedated, we haven’t seen him awake much for a couple of days. His blood gases (whatever they are) are improving which is a good sign but he’s still one very sad little boy at the moment.

He is still maintained only on oxygen and at times they have been able to reduce this but when he starts coughing he goes downhill for a while. The hope is that if he can stay as he is tonight and tomorrow they might look to move him to the High Dependency Unit where we can have a little bit more ‘hands on’. It’s pretty desperate not being able to pick him up and a lot of the time we feel like spare parts.

Update

Jude went downhill fast on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning and in the early hours of Wednesday was transferred to Intensive Care at the Childrens Hospital.

Part of his lung had collapsed and he was having to work really hard to breath and they thought he may need to be ventilated – something they wished to avoid as it can be difficult getting them off the ventilator.

He’s not well but so far they have maintained him just on oxygen although did consider using something called a cpap mask which forces oxygen in but they have not had to do this so far. His blood gases are improving and we’re just waiting for him to get better now.

Jude is in the same bed space that his brother Joe was in almost 9 years to the day which is a little weird….

Hospital

Didn’t realise Ian had done his hospital post when I did mine, that said I am annoyed too but slso very scared.

Well we are here again with a poorly little boy. something elso is back to, those dreaded breath holdings. Jude is on oxygen and has been since his arrival. on iv fluids overnight tonight, hope tomorrow is a better day.

Back in Hospital (and annoyed)

Last Thursday Jude was sent home from hospital after a chest x-ray suggested he was not in any danger unfortunately he deteriorated over the weekend and yesterday (Monday) we took him back in and he’s been on oxygen, IV antibiotics and inhalers.

This morning, during the ward round, the doctor took him off regular inhaler, switched to oral (tube fed) antibiotics and suggested that a throat infection was his problem. Later, his consultant asks me whether I would want him ventilated although with the caveat it wasn’t critical at the moment. Nobody had mentioned ‘critical’ up to this point! She said that his chest sounded bad and he needed to rid himself of secretions so physios were instructed. Physio came and said she couldn’t feel anything in his chest and thought that the crackles were transmitted sound from his throat. Then another doctor reinstated IV antibiotics and inhalers again.

In less than 12 hours I had been given all sorts of mixed messages and I’ve left Rachel at the hospital now unsure and annoyed. What I do know is that Jude is a very unappy little man. Not always crying unhappy, but flat and listless and his oxygen levels drop markedly when the oxygen mask is removed. He is poorly, proper poorly. And I’m annoyed.

Grrr x 2

It’s a Funny Old Game

The post title is an old English cliché associated with football – for our friends across the pond, not soccer…football. We invented the game, don’t mess!

Jude has been pretty rough all week and on a couple of occasions there have been murmurings about being admitted to hospital.  While I was out at work yesterday Rachel relented and took him to the children’s ward to be checked over. I was at work and on the way back got a text from Rachel to say that there were some football players visiting the ward.

Football is built on rivalries and in our house (Rachel aside) we are Wolverhampton Wanderers. Me and the boys go regularly, home and away. Our rivals are another local team West Bromwich Albion. If you’re not into football this will mean nothing to you but it’s a little bit like the Republic and the Empire in Star Wars, the Klingons and the Federation in Star Trek (The Original Series), Ross and whoever Rachel was seeing in Friends!

Imagine my horror to find that my son, yes my son, was being ‘visited’ by Albion players. Worse! They only go an print his picture in the local paper. I don’t have the heart to post the picture on the blog, if you need to know my pain you will have to visit for yourself here.

Thankfully Jude looks completely disinterested, he knows. What that bloke on the right is doing with his hand to make Rachel smile is another matter entirely.

Grr…….

p.s. At lease they got Jude’s name wrong which means in future I have plausible denial.