Dear Medical Professional,
You will ask about his medical history,
And I will repeat the story I have told 100 times or more,
The details fine tuned to the essentials I know you need:
He was born full term,
He has a 7 year old brother who is fit and well,
He is allergic to penicillin.
You will ask me what happened,
And I will answer:
He is 6 years old.
He wasn't breathing for 7 minutes.
I gave him mouth to mouth.
I will hand over a careful typed piece of A4 paper.
It will tell you his hospital number,
The things he is allergic to,
A list of medications and doses.
You will take it and smile.
You'll tell me I make your job easier.
I will stand calm,
And in control. You see my demeanour,
my hospital bags packed and ready,
And you say,
You've done this before.
I'll nod and say many times.
But remember this; That 6 year old is my baby.
That boy with the oxygen,
And the wires,
And the tubes,
Is my son.
I watched him turn blue. The first time,
The fifth time,
The hundred and fifty fifth time...
It was still …
You will ask about his medical history,
And I will repeat the story I have told 100 times or more,
The details fine tuned to the essentials I know you need:
He was born full term,
He has a 7 year old brother who is fit and well,
He is allergic to penicillin.
You will ask me what happened,
And I will answer:
He is 6 years old.
He wasn't breathing for 7 minutes.
I gave him mouth to mouth.
I will hand over a careful typed piece of A4 paper.
It will tell you his hospital number,
The things he is allergic to,
A list of medications and doses.
You will take it and smile.
You'll tell me I make your job easier.
I will stand calm,
And in control. You see my demeanour,
my hospital bags packed and ready,
And you say,
You've done this before.
I'll nod and say many times.
But remember this; That 6 year old is my baby.
That boy with the oxygen,
And the wires,
And the tubes,
Is my son.
I watched him turn blue. The first time,
The fifth time,
The hundred and fifty fifth time...
It was still …
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I know exactly how you feel, as life with Smiley was like this for the first 2 years of her life. Eventually when I got completely exhausted my district nurse arranged for the local children's hospital to take her in for a week - I still went in to see her every day of course! Now her medical needs are much less and I always have a couple of adult babysitters who are trained and can manage both cerebral palsy and aspergers! So things do get easier xx
ReplyDeleteThanks Blue Sky. We can sometimes feel like we're the only ones that face challenges like this so it is good to know that you've been there and come out the other side! :) Xx
ReplyDeleteI know exactly what you mean. Sam's Grandparents wont look after him as they don't feel confident in doing so, so our only option (and at least we do have this) is our neighbour/NICU nurse Auntie C who can occassionally help. But it is hard. We should be starting respite soon & I keep being asked what I want to do with time off - I have no idea, never had proper time off in what feels like forever, don't think popping to the dentist really counts!
ReplyDeleteGreat post! x
Nope - popping to the dentist doesn't count Zoe! Or going for blood tests as my 'time off' was spent this week!
ReplyDelete