Mike's musings

A trip to A and E (again)

So, went to church with the girls, and they were pretty well-behaved for most of it. They're really getting to be pretty good, and I even managed to hear almost of all of James' sermon. Afterwards, we went to the back of the church for some squash for Jo. Jo was sitting down on a pew, and Miri tried to get up. And her elbow went again. I could tell immediately what it was - and she knew, too. So, I phoned Moo, got our stuff put together, and headed off home, where I dropped Jo. Miri was already asleep, but I tried raising her arm above her head briefly. She half-woke up, and was a bit sad, so I set off for Addenbrooke's A & E.

She woke up when I parked, and it was immediately clear that her arm was 100% better. It must have sorted itself when I raised above her head (which is the trick the nurse in A & E managed last time) or while she was asleep. Either way, it saved us a trip, as I headed home, just paying £3.00 for parking, but we'll try to get her referred to someone to look into it.

Labels: hospital, miri

Annual trip to A & E

We last visited an A & E on Jo's birthday in February last year, so it was clearly time for another trip. This time, it was Miri's turn, which makes a refreshing change. Moo was away late, and I was just about to take the girls upstairs to bed, as they were both very, very tired, and was sitting on the sofa. Miri was clambering around behind me, and suddenly she started to cry loudly. I was pretty sure, within seconds, that it was the same problem that Jo's had a couple of times: the ligament in the elbow pops out. It's easy to put back in, but I've never managed to do it myself: partly because you don't want to upset the poor child any more than they already are.

So, I called Moo for ideas, and ended up calling the (fantastic) Kristi and Paul, parents of Jo and Miri's friends Louie and Poppy, and Kristi soon came around to take care Jo back to their house, and to lend me a car seat (Moo had both of our ones in her car, of course). Moo suggested I call the out-of-hours doctors' service, and I wasted 15 minutes or so waiting for them to call back before heading off for Addenbrooke's A & E. When they did get back to me, they advised me to do that anyway, so that was fine.

I'd given Miri some Calpol, and she'd calmed down pretty quickly, and slept all the way to Cambridge. And then we were seen pretty quickly, and the nurse's examination actually put the ligament back in place (in fact, just taking her top off did it, which is a good trick to know for next time). This avoided an hour or more wait, and we got back home around 2030. Mel had got a text from Kristi, and had phoned them, and when she'd spoken to Jo, Jo had clearly been a bit upset, so Mel had come over and picked her up. Jo was asleep by the time I got back, and Mel's just a complete star. In fact, Jo had a been a complete star, too, and had got herself changed really quickly and without any hassle when I asked her. And she went off with Kristi without any complaint, too, so I'm going to find a really nice treat for her tomorrow morning.

And, for extra excitement, we're expecting more snow tonight...

Labels: hospital, illness, Jo, miri

And back... (part 2)

(backposting) Got in to Manchester International Airport around 0900 GMT, had a car booked (with driver) and slept part of the way back. Jo was _very_ pleased to see me - as was I her. Little Miri's now back exclusively on breastmilk, but feeding very frequently (and long). She's also got a cough, and keeps waking up, so Moo is absolutely exhausted.

So, as Kate was out, I took Mac, and Moo, and Jo and Miri out to the pub. We had a good meal, and as we were about to go, Jo started playing up. I held her lower arm, she sat down and twisted. And was clearly immediately in lots of pain. And it didn't seem to go away, and I was pretty sure she wasn't faking it. We let her have a sleep, but it was still there when she woke up after an hour. Off to Queen's Med. They have a great paediatric A&E department, it must be said. Not, I'm very, very pleased to say, a fracture, but a "pulled elbow": a ligament which has twisted out of place. Common, it seems, and it was very, very easily fixed. So, the doctor fixed it, and we're all happy now. Poor Jo.

Miri has started tracking people and objects around. It's just a bit more interaction, and makes it all more real.

Labels: family, hospital, Jo, miriam