Home at last

It’s been a while since the last post but there’s been a lot happening.  To start with we were informed that Liam would require surgery for his hydrocephalus before the end of August.  We were originally told it would be on August 25th and thought that we’d have a couple of weeks up our sleeve to fret. That is until we were contacted by the neurosurgeon on Sunday 16th August and told that we could get the operation done on the 18th.  That left one day to reschedule and cancel appointments since Liam would be in hospital until at least Friday.  So on Monday the 17th we headed to stay at my mum’s place in the evening so that we could be at Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick early on Tuesday morning.

After much waiting around and preparation, like washing Liam’s hair with iodine, his surgery commenced around midday.  We were quite worried about our little boy, whether he would need a shunt or not and whether or not the operation would be successful. We were aware of the various risks during brain surgery and it left a big knot in my stomach.  We were sitting in the waiting area for him to be brought into recovery, and the appearance of his surgeon – Dr Erica Jacobson – was somewhat of a relief.  They finished at about 2pm which was a good sign; if the shunt was to be inserted then the operation would have taken another hour.  Ben and I went in to be with Liam when  woke up.  He was groggy and distressed when he woke, but he recognised us immediately which was a really good sign.  I fed him straight away, as he had been fasting since 2am that morning.  Eventually he was transferred to the ward.

Liam in hospital - his eyes look a little puffy after the operation

He spent the next 3 days on the ward.  They really do cater for the kids there.  We had dogs visiting, clown doctors, people with guitars singing and people who make things with balloons.  There is also a room for parents to sleep, a place where I took solace while Ben cared for Liam during the day. Liam had fevers and vomiting in the first 24 hours but settled down after that.  I was so glad to be able to breastfeed him. It was all he would keep down as well as give him comfort. We were glad to be released on the Friday and come home to familiar surroundings and our own bed.  Liam slept so well when he came home and so did I.  He was happy to be playing with his own toys and see his dogs again.

Liam is so happy to be back home

Things settled down a little for the next few days and we managed to get back into our routine.  However, we noticed on Tuesday that the wound was starting to swell and was weeping overnight.  We contacted the surgeon and sent through some photos of the wound that Ben took with his phone. She advised us to take Liam back to the emergency department in Randwick.  So on Wednesday evening we quickly threw some clothes in a bag and headed back to the hospital, quite concerned that there was fluid leaking from the wound.  She had told us it could quite possibly be brain fluid leaking and that she was worried about infection.  We were seen relatively quickly but had to wait an hour for the neurosurgical registrar to come to see Liam. We then spent 21hours in the emergency department waiting for a bed in the ward.  We were transferred late the next day.  We spent the next few days there and came home on Sunday. Liam was pretty over it by the end of his stay as it’s hard to sleep in the ward where there is so much noise and activity all of the time. He was also bored being in the cot as there’s no way he would be crawling around the hospital floors. Ben had bought a bubble machine to try to alleviate Liam’s boredom while he was stuck in hospital.  It was a hit.

Liam and nanna with bubbles.

So we settled into being at home, and went along to a mother’s group lunch on Tuesday. Then on Wednesday evening Liam started vomiting, along with the rest of the babies and mums from mother’s group. It must have been something passed on at the lunch.  We were a bit concerned after he’d been vomiting for a couple of hours as this is one of the symptoms of intracranial pressure. So at 10.30pm Wednesday night we headed for the emergency department of Gosford hospital.  They admitted us straight away since Liam had undergone surgery recently and vomiting was a sign of one of the possible complications. After the emergency doctors conferred with the neurosurgeons in Sydney, they decided to keep him in Gosford hospital for observation rather than transfer him to Sydney.

He was on IV fluids for the first 2 days but seemed to tolerate breastmilk okay so they kept it on a fairly low input.  My mum came up to help with Liam during the day – a welcome relief. When he started to show signs of diarrhea we almost rejoiced, as it meant that the vomiting wasn’t caused from his pressure in his head. They were going to send him home on Friday but then he went downhill a bit when he started vomiting again. So they decided to keep hm in for another night in case he needed more IV fluids. Mum headed back to Sydney, but I later learned that as soon as she had arrived home, she was sick with the same gastro bug.

On Friday night at about 9pm I started to feel nauseous and sure enough came down with the gastro bug with all it’s vengeance.  After spending a bit of time in the bathroom the nurses suggested I pop down the the emergency department to get something to help.  I went down to the ED where they took my name and details and said to go back up to the ward and we’ll call you when it’s your turn.  This was at about 1.30am.  I  went back up to the ward and tried to sleep for a while.  At 3.30am they called and asked me to come back down.  They gave me some Maxalon and IV fluids to rehydrate me – I must have looked pretty crook. After lying on an examination table (the closest thing they had to a bed) for half an hour while the cold IV fluids pumped into my arm, they sent me back to the ward and told me to come back in a couple of hours.  This was at about 4.30am.

In the meantime Liam had been settled back to sleep by the nurses and was still sound asleep until 5.20am.  After feeding him I headed back to the ED for the all clear.  I was told it would be best if I went home to rest.

Liam and I came home on Saturday morning.  So glad to be home once again. Ben’s mum – Maggie – has been staying with us since then.  On the first night home Ben and I needed to go to bed early as we were both really sick. Maggie managed to get Liam to sleep after neither of us had the energy to pace any more.

Father’s day has been a quiet one. It’s a house of recovery. Liam is picking up little by little. Ben and I are 100% improved on what we were yesterday.

Home at last.

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