Monday, July 20, 2009

19 July 2009

Although the single room in Clancy ward seems cold and dark, it is much quieter and more peaceful compared to Camperdown ward. It is away from general visitor traffic/screaming kids/etc. The facilities and support is less than what we are used to in Camperdown ward, but the nurses have been just as nice, even if they have more patients to look after, and less experience with oncology patients.



It was very pleasing to see that Jeremy was very happy to see visitors today. He really perked up when his visitors arrived, and even got out of bed at one stage to go to the toy room to see what his sister and cousin was doing.



This events this weekend were quite draining. The poor expectation management left me both concerned and slightly angry at times.



Long rant starts here. Please don't complain about my rant - you don't have to read the below - I just need to vent it out.



The normal red blood transfusion turned into an "on" and "off" saga. They changed their mind multiple times between Friday PM through to just after midnight on Sunday morning when it finally started. They had been doing 2 blood tests each day - early AM and PM. I was very annoyed when they did a 3rd blood test late Sat evening (why take MORE blood from a kid you know is already lacking blood?).



We had been pushed out of Camperdown ward on Saturday despite Jeremy being a high risk patient. The air conditioning in Clancy is not the same isolated positive pressure one they have in Camperdown ward. It seems to be the regular garden variety


We were not given the Sunday morning blood test results until late Sunday afternoon, and it seemed that they did not notice he had a very low platelet count. We were then told there were none available for him in Westmead, and that they would have to order some from the city, which could take until the next morning to appear. This was particularly distressing as Jeremy's nosebleed on Friday lasted over an hour, and only stopped after they gave him a platelet transfusion.



The one doctor was responsible in the decision making process of the 3 issues above. At the end of the weekend, I was quite irritable and wasn't happy about this particular doctor's manner. After getting home, I can reflect that the experience and circumstances left me concerned at the time, but I do accept that they are all doing their best.



Ultimately, God showed us he was the one looking after Jeremy when the platelets showed up before anyone had expected. We had been asking about the timeframe, and the staff could only advise "anytime between now and Monday morning", and "we don't know because it was not classed as an urgent delivery". After we decided to give up asking questions, we decided we should stop worrying about things we have no control over, and let God worry about it. Not long afterwards, the nurses came in and told us the platelets had arrived (much earlier than anyone had expected).



End rant...

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