Grace's trip to Hospital

As I sit here at quiet time, watching Grace snipping off strands of curling ribbon and taping them on to everything, I can't believe that less than 24 hours ago, she was the sickest either of my children had ever been and I got given a lesson on how helpless you really are when this happens.

Wednesday came around and I was starting to think that she was on the mend from the continual vomiting and lethargy that had plagued her for the previous 2 days. She tends to get over vomiting bugs by the morning of day 3, so if she wasn't better by then I was going to take her to the Dr. I made her appointment for 2.20pm, so that Duane would be home from work and I wouldn't be stuck carrying Grace and dragging along Xav.

She still spent the morning laying on the couch, but by about 1pm had seemed to perk up a little, and so I asked her if she wanted something to eat. She said yes, so I rummaged through the pantry and found a milk arrowroot biscuit for her to munch on. She gobbled it straight up, which at the time seemed like a good sign. She'd also spent the morning drinking water, eating ice-chips and attempting to eat the hydralyte icy poles - but mostly refusing them.

Duane came home, we woke Xav and then headed down to the Dr surgery. My normal Dr wasn't on that day, so we got to see another that I hadn't met before. He had a good look over her: checking her eyes, ears, mouth, temp and having a feel of her tummy. He told me that she was starting to dehydrate, and although I had been doing everything right, she may need to get extra fluids as she was obviously loosing them faster that she could keep them down. I started to feel terrible that I hadn't brought her in earlier, but he reassured both Duane and I that we hadn't come too early or too late - just at the right time. He hurriedly wrote a referral to the hospital, which he later explained was because the surgery was about to have all the power switched off due to trouble with the electricals caused by the excessive rain from the previous week.

Literally moments after the referral left the printer, all the lights went off and the surgery had to close for the day.

After the examination, Duane picked Grace up again,where she promptly vomited up milk arrowroot biscuit over him, the floor, herself and the bed.

So after being given strict instructions by the Dr to head straight to Robina hospital, we quickly dropped home for a change of clothes for Duane and Grace and to grab Xav's things for an afternoon at Trude's house. I also threw in a playschool Dvd to keep him happy and his Pj's and blanket in case everything took a little longer than we thought.

Grace was still looking ok, not fantastic, but luckily she didn't vomit the whole trip. I was a little worried, but didn't really understand the enormity (to us who have never had to take the kids to hospital before) of what was happening.

I remember looking over at Grace in the back, and saying to Duane that she looks a lot better and maybe she wouldn't even need the drip. Wrong.

We parked the car, Duane put a towel on his shoulder in readiness for another vomit. She did vomit, but managed to contain it to the towel on her lap and all through her hair and on her nightie. After a quick clean up and change, we headed in to emergency. I was expecting to have to wait for ages, but by that stage she was starting to look very ill, and they put us straight into the nurse.

The nurse asked us to pop her on the scales, where she weighed in at 18.9 kgs - 2 kgs less than her normal weight. I know that she was this too, after weighing her just the other day. Duane then layed her on the bed whilst the nurse did all her checks. Grace was not responding to anything, just laying there completely still and looking absolutely shattered. The nurse tried getting her to talk, asking her what food she would really like to eat - chocolate cake maybe? Nope, she wasn't interested in anything. The nurse agreed that she was severely dehydrated, so took us through to a bed on the emergency ward.

This is when things got a little scary. We had just put her on the bed, when she started vomiting uncontrollably. This vomit was completely different from anything she had done before, and a passing Dr came straight over to look. It was a murky, green colour and smelt and looked like poo. I found out later that this was a very worrying colour as its the end of the stomach lining and the contents is part of the bowels coming up, and it can also be a sign that the bowel is obstructed.

We had a lovely Dr assigned to us, who had a quick check over Grace and then started his sentence with "You have a very sick little girl......" He then explained that they would need to get a cannula straight into her with fluids and an anti-nausea medication put in to stop the vomiting. He did her blood sugar level, which was normal (4.5) and said that when they were putting in the cannula they would take some blood to be tested.

All this time Grace was floppy and just laying on the bed, unable to even move her head. She was looking sicker and sicker, and I was desperate for them to get fluids in and hopeful that the fluid would do it's job to hydrate her. Duane and I held her hand whilst 3 Dr's and a nurse stood on the other side of her trying to get a vein. I wasn't watching, but I could tell from their faces and words that they were having a lot of trouble getting the cannula in. She was so dehydrated that her veins were not cooperating, just collapsing under the stress. It was also made harder as they had to put a larger cannula in, to be able to put high amounts of fluid through. The next day I checked her arms, and realised that they had tried on the inside of her elbow and 3 times on the top of her hand, finally getting one in on her hand.

When they tried the first time, she screamed. It was the first sound she had made for ages, and so heartbreaking to hear. She had a moniter on, and as they were trying to get it in, her pulse starting going crazy. Her eyes starting rolling around and she was going in and out of consciousness. The dr's couldn't see as she was facing away from them, so I asked if she was ok. They then realised that she had gone into shock and had to take the cannula immediately out whilst they tried to bring her back. That was scary. Watching her, as she layed there looking so sick and yet so peaceful as she passed out. The Dr's explained that she had gone into shock from the pain and they tried frantically to get her to come back around. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she opened her eyes.

They they quickly tried to get the cannula in again, eventually getting it in. She was then hooked up to the Iv and started on 200ml per hour of fluid, this was to go for 4 hours. I stayed with her for 2 hours, whilst she slept. During this time she was woken as she had to go for an x-ray, she was still lethargic and not caring what was done to her. The radiologist suggested we try to get the x-ray by herself, but if she was upset, one of us could hold her, but she was so out of it that she just layed there in the room by herself whilst the x-ray was done and Duane and I watched from behind the glass.

One of the lovely Dr had explained to us that the fluids would hopefully pick her up and then they could get a better idea of what was causing the vomiting and stomach cramps. There was talk of either appendix or bowel obstruction/telescoping. We had a million questions asked as they tried to work out what was wrong. Student Dr's came and visited and did the questions again, trying to rule out everything. The x-ray didn't show anything abnormal, except a fully loaded bowel.

We were told that we would be staying until she had been given 800 mls of fluid and was showing great improvement, and to be prepared to be staying overnight. Whilst she was sleeping, I left her with Duane and headed home. The hospital was absolutely freezing, so I wanted to get some warm clothes for all of us and also some comforts for Grace: dolly, her blanket and pillow. I also wanted to be close to Trudy's house in case Xav wouldn't settle for the night, I was also worried about how he would go considering it was his very first time staying at someone else's house and his first night away from me. I needn't have bothered worrying though, he had Trude wrapped around his finger and was having a great time at his sleepover. He was fine, going to bed easily and sleeping in his own bed all night until 7am the next morning.

Anyway, I headed to subway to get dinner for Duane and I - and cookies for stress relief. I'd just got the message from Trude to say that Xav was settled and happy, and was heading back to the Robina hospital. I got a call from Duane, but the reception from the hospital is not great, and he kept breaking up. The only part of the conversation that I heard was going by ambulance to other hospital, meet us there...... and then the phone went dead. I desperately tried to call him back, but it continually went to message bank. I started crying, not sure what the hell was happening. I'd just left her and she was fine, but I was automatically thinking the worst. I knew that Robina doesn't have facilities for children, but they did have an area that children could stay overnight if nothing was serious.

I drove straight to the hospital, trying to hold back the bad thoughts. I got a park out the front (by this time it was close to 9pm) and raced up to the children's ward on the 5th floor. It was all quiet, and none of the staff knew anything about Grace coming over. One of the lovely nurses could see me, loaded up with stuff for an overnight stay and looking upset, and said she'd take me down to emergency as that is where they would be. I finally got hold of Duane and he said there was a line up of ambulances and they were waiting on the ramp for the line to clear. I was put into the waiting room, to wait for her to come in. I Still wasn't sure what was going on. Finally, she was brought into emergency and I was allowed in. Duane quickly told me that the pead over at Robina had felt a lump in her abdomen and wanted her to have an urgent ultrasound to see if it was a bowel problem. Grace was starting to look better, which was fantastic.

A sonographer was called in and we went in for her ultrasound. Everything was checked over, and nothing showed up, so the lump was put down to a large amount of poo that was stuck.

Because she was so dehydrated, her body had been searching for water and extracted it from her poo which in turn had made her constipated. She was asking for food at this stage and reaching out to Duane and I as we munched on our soggy subway, which was a fantastic sign - but unfortunately she wasn't allowed to have anything yet. She still hadn't weed since midday (10 hours later) and 800ml of Iv fluids, so we took her into the toilet to wee and get a sample. Her aim was a little off and she sprayed all over my trackies and foot, but she laughed which was worth it to hear. I swapped the bright yellow wee with the pead who had a some bright yellow jelly for Grace, fair exchange!

We had another fantastic pead, who explained to us that although they couldn't find anything wrong, he was reluctant to just say it was gastro, because of the absence of diarrhea and the amount/colour of bile in her vomit. He said that he wanted to admit her for the night and recommended that she had an enema to clear the bowels. By this stage, she was asleep so I asked if we could wait until she woke to do the enema. I knew that this would traumatise her, even more than everything that had happened previously. She didn't remember anything else, she was way too out of it. However, she was lucid now and would have definitely resisted. He agreed to that and then we were taken up to our room on the children's ward. He also picked up a heart murmur, which he said could have just been brought on by the stress or something that she has always had. Duane and I both had ones as children, so nothing really to worry about, but he advised we get it checked out anyway. He also noted that her iron stores are excellent, way above they need to be - great considering she doesn't eat red meat!

It was midnight by now and as only one parent was allowed to stay the night, Duane was sent home. He looked exhausted and as there is no way that I was leaving my little girl - he was the one nominated to go. I settled Grace in for the night, with dolly tucked in beside her and made up the sofa bed for myself. We both slept relatively well, only stirring when the nurse came in to do her obs. Grace woke about 6am, and I hopped in bed with her and we cuddled and talked about what had been happening. She was 1000 times better - talking, laughing and begging for something to eat.

I got her some custard and juice, which she eagerly gobbled up and requested more food. The pressure was on now to get her bowels working so that an enema could be avoided. I explained to her, without trying to frighten, that she needed to poo or the Dr's were going to put some medicine up her bottom to get her to go. I slipped out to the tea room to make her a weak, milky cup of tea, in the hope that the warmness of it would be the encouragement she needed. By the time I had gotten back, there was a visitor - Pop had overcome his fear of hospitals and was in to visit bright and early at 7am!

The nurse asked once again if she could go ahead with the enema, but I was still very hopeful that food, drink and movement would get things going, so asked for another half hour. She was fine with this and said that the Dr's would be doing their rounds at about 8.00 anyway, and it could be done then.


After eating the rest of her breakfast, we decided to get her up and walking. Poppy and I each had an arm, as she was still quite wobbly. She was still very weak and went clammy a few times, but managed to walk around the corner into the play room, dragging her iv behind her. We had a little shuffle around the room and then set up at the window, waiting to see Daddy and Xav coming up the entrance. Duane had headed round to The Dews to pick Xav up, who was happily munching on porridge with sultanas and honey. Actually I should note here that Trudy spoilt him with yoghurt as dessert, which although is not an unusual after dinner treat - there were marshmallows! So now Xav is insisting that we buy marshmallows from the shop for our yoghurt!

After a while, we saw Daddy and Xav trudging up the driveway. Grace lit up as soon as she saw her little brother, she had definitely missed being away from him and was excited to tell him all about her ambulance ride. Xav was equally thrilled, although I'm sure his excitement was more directed at all the machines and buttons in the room.




Xav was getting a bit rowdy and had too much energy to be stuck in the confines of a hospital room, so Poppy took him out to the park until we knew what was happening with Grace. This was also a milestone for Xav AND Poppy, it's the first ever time that he has taken one of the children. Hopefully something that can happen again soon!

We were still on "project poop" with Grace, hoping to avoid the alternative. Finally, after much coaxing she decided that she could give it a go. She sat, and sat, and sat and sat, and sat AND then finally I heard plonk! Gosh I have never been so excited to peer into a toilet!

Just as I was wiping the remnants from her bum, there was a knock at the door and 10 Dr's all walked in. She had performed, just in the nick of time!!

So, another gorgeous (they were all HOT!) Dr went over her file and tried to work out what was wrong. He was happy with how she looked, although still a little yellow, but was still worried about the bile she was vomiting. All her tests were ok, she had some low white cells - but nothing else too worrying. The ultrasound didn't show anything bad, neither did the x-ray. She was responding well to the fluids, so the only thing they could put it down to was viral gastro, that she had become dehydrated from causing compaction of the bowel and constipation. We were told that if she stopped eating or drinking or sick again, she was to come straight back in.

The student Dr's that were doing a rotation in Pead's, came over from the Robina hospital to visit and see how she was. Both of them were amazed at how quickly she recovered and how well she looked compared to when they saw her yesterday.

We packed up our stuff and headed home, then spent the rest of the afternoon lazing around inside. After getting a bit sick of being stuck inside, we set up a bed outside on the grass and Grace and I layed there reading books whilst the boys mowed the lawn. She perked up a lot that night, and has been eating & drinking fine since.


Although in the end it was just gastro, it was still a traumatic experience for all of is. Having your child look so ill is absolutely terrifying. Seeing them lay there, all energy gone and just a shadow of the exuberant child that you know is heartbreaking. Watching them in obvious pain and being stuck with needles, and only being able to offer hugs and kisses, makes you feel so, so helpless. It sure gives you a huge dose of sympathy for parents of children that are really ill, and the poor children themself. I am just so grateful for our wonderful public health services, I could not fault anything or anyone. They were all amazing and just as eager as us to get Grace all better again.

Through all of this my Mummy radar is still beeping. I'm still wary that there is something else. It just doesn't seem right to me that the same thing has happened here and here, and it's supposedly a gastro bug that only seems to affect Grace. We've had gastro before, and usually it gets shared around, but these 3 times Grace has been the only one to be sick. Also, she only vomits - never having diarohea. The 2 peads we spoke to both agreed that this was strange, normally with gastro there is some amount of diarohea. I know that she definitely doens't eiither, she alsways calls me to wipe her bum when she poos and even if she didn't we'd see the remnants as she always forgets to flush the toilet. All the tests are clear though, so nothing else can be done. But, if it happens again - and even more so if it's soon - I'll be pushing for more answers. Maybe she is just a kid that will be prone to picking up all the bugs, maybe everyone else's immune systems are better and hers is a little low? I'm going to take her to a naturopath and see what would be good at helping avoid them as much as possible.