Enough of the weather already and another day in hospital

It is rainy, overcast and cold here in Johannesburg. And we had to go to the hospital yesterday! Again!

It is very strange weather for this time of the year! Especially the rain. It feels like we are experiencing Cape Town weather. Cold and wet and it is not even winter yet. We hope it doesn’t signal a cold winter coming up? Maximums of 14 and 15 degrees and we COMPLAIN here! (Smile)

The toddler had an abscess drained the previous week, and on Sunday we saw the spot had started to grow again. Aaargh! Poor baby! Yesterday we had to go through the whole thing again: Book into hospital, theatre, having to sit with our little one while she is groggy after the anaesthetics. It feels so unnecessary but there is apparently nothing else to be done. An abscess has to be cut and drained, and it is better to put babies down because they won’t lie still on their own.

The cut was made bigger underneath her arm, and the surgeon inserted a small piece of gauze in the wound to keep it open for longer. I am SOOO squeamish, and I feel so sorry for Mieka. I just hope it is the last last time!

Photo: Mieka just before she went into the theatre. She was hungry because we could not give her anything to eat since 11 am, and she only went in after 6 pm.

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16 months and an unexpected day at the hospital

16 months and an unexpected day at the hospital

Mieka had an abscess drained today in the hospital. It was a very scary experience!

Our day started as usual, with us trying to get dressed. The teen tried to help me by taking Mieka from me. When she picked her up, Mieka cried out in pain. I immediately knew it was the red bump under her arm which has been growing. It looked like an insect bite, but on Sunday we saw that the bump was redder and more inflamed! I wanted to take her to the doctor on Monday, but we had other errands to run. This morning we had no other option, although I still believed that she only needed a cream, or something...

The doctor immediately said that it was an abscess, and that she had to get a surgeon to look at it. Horrors!! We landed up at the hospital, having to book the toddler in for the day. The surgeon came round during his surgeries, but said that it wasn’t such a big deal. He would drain it, and leave it open for it to keep on draining (no stitches).

It was extremely stressful to walk into the operating theatre dressed in the green clothes, holding her in my arms. She was fighting against the gas mask and crying. The next moment she was sleeping, and I had to leave her. I heard her little wheezy chest when she went under and it made me even more uneasy...

While we were waiting, I shed a few tears, telling Dries they were taking too long. 20 minutes felt like forever!

She was crying when they placed her in my arms, but luckily she went to sleep while we carried her back to her bed. The anaesthetist told us that the abscess was bigger than they had predicted.

I breastfed her when she woozily woke up, and after about 40 minutes she was eating and playing again. Luckily we could go home when they saw that she was fine... (How easy they bounce back! Tonight she was playing and babbling again, bouncing all over!)

It was an unexpected day! It seems we get lots of these with children. (Gulp!)

How do we get them to grow up? All in one piece?

(Photo: Mieka on Sunday - busy with one of her favourite activities - "talking on the telephone".)