Hospital Stay

Nearly the entire month of January was spent living in hospital as Little A turned into a medical mystery.

Just after he resumed school, on our return from a trip to his favourite mountain retreat, Little A began vomiting. It was a Thursday evening, and I was at a meeting. Big A called me midway through to ask if I had fed Little A anything unusual when we did our errands after school, as he had vomited thrice in the past hour.

I rushed home, and by bedtime, he had thrown up again. The next day, everything we tried to feed him came back up, and by Friday evening he was vomiting dark green bile.

On Saturday morning, despite the pediatrician's instructions the day before to "just observe and keep him hydrated", I took Little A to the hospital. By this time, he was so weak he could barely walk. The paediatric emergency team gave each other looks, and told me he should have been admitted the previous day. While connected to the IVs in the Emergency ward, they got us ready to move into the paediatric wing.

Through the next day, the green vomiting continued, in varied quantities depending on what Little A had been able to consume. By Sunday evening, I demanded we be assigned a paediatric gastroenterologist as our regular paediatrician, antiemetics, and even GERD medication administered every few hours had no effect at all on the copious regurgitation that happened every few hours.

And so begun a battery of guesswork procedures from standard x-ray and CAT scans to sedated insertions of cameras into his digestive tract that took place over the next ten days. What was discovered was that part of Little A's intestinal tract narrowed so much that possibly this caused all food going in to come out again. But no one was really sure what exactly caused it and how it suddenly happened when until that Thursday, he was eating and digesting food normally. 

Midway through the week it was agreed that Little A needed nutrition, so he was put on a second IV that fed him the equivalent of extra nutritious milk. This  IV had to be changed every two or three days, otherwise the risk of infection to the puncture site was high, so the search for veins and replacement of the needles was something that happened about a dozen times over the 3.5 week stay.

By the end of week 1, Little A developed a fever out of the blue, one so high it caused intense shivering, and for him to repeatedly sign and type for blankets. Blood was drawn, and it was klebisella pneumoniae, contracted through someone or something in the hospital. This led to his first ever course of antibiotics, in addition to fever and other meds that were being injected into his IVs several times a day. Visitors were strictly banned. 

Throughout this all, Little A remained brave, and kept on asking to go home. He spent days in a recliner chair and nights on the window seat, absolutely refusing the hospital bed unless it was to take him to yet another procedure. I went home for an hour every 3-5 days to launder the blankets and pillowcases we took to hospital as well as our clothes, then rushed back after a shower with another bag filled with clothes for 4 more days. By week 2, my French press and a bag of good coffee had taken up residence on the side table.  

The paediatric gastroenterologist was married to a paediatric surgeon, who met with us at the end of week 2 to say he would cut our son open to see what might be going on. He outlined the Whipple procedure, one I knew from obsessive Grey's Anatomy watching to be THE most complicated digestive operation of them all, one that would leave our son with no more "normal" stomach functions for the rest of his life, assuming he got through the complications of the operation.

But first, Paedia Surgeon was scheduled for his annual holiday. We had 10 days' reprieve, enough time to offer prayers to every saint and deity there was, and ask those so inclined who cared about Little A to do the same. An abdominal ultrasound was carried out in his room, and no unusual masses were detected by the sonologist. During this time, the vomiting slowly stopped, and Little A started begging us for food. 

Big A spoke to the technicians who did all the tests and the nurses who managed Little A's round the clock care, and we discovered that his case was being studied by the medical students and heads of several departments ranging from radiology to gastroenterology, none of whom could figure it out. We made a decision, without official doctor's orders, to start feeding him in tiny increments to see if he could keep food down. 

From one spoonful thrice a day on the first day to half a cup by the fourth, Little A kept his food down, and his IV nutrition intake was decreased. Nurses cheered him on, and we were allowed to take him on daily half hour outings, in a wheelchair, to a courtyard one level below.

When Paedia Surgeon and Paedia Gastro came back and read the charts, they wanted to do another battery of tests to compare with the first set. We refused anything invasive, and within that week Little A was taken off nutrition IV, and we signed a waiver that we were going against medical orders and taking him home. 

Our apartment is a 10 minute walk from the hospital that had been our home for close to a month. Big A kept going to work, since like clockwork twice a week we would be given an updated hospital bill. By the end of week 1, he slept most nights at home, and walked over as soon as he had finished at the office. When Little A resumed solid food, the Au Pair, who spent every night and most days in Little A's hospital room with me when not running home to get us more clothes, crayons, blankets, and toys, started walking home twice a day to cook him fresh food. When the whole family was finally home, it was the best feeling ever. 

The Nutcracker

In utero, Little A was subjected to repeated listenings of The Nutcracker Suite in the first trimester as I drove to and from work. As a former professional dancer, it remains one of my favourites and is a staple on our music deck in the Christmas season. Even the staff at my shops love it, particularly the sole male store manager.

Fast forward to Little A’s boyhood, where he (through nature or nurture) discovers the love for classical music and orchestras. His anxiety and fear of new experiences have kept him from sitting in a darkened theatre, but he constantly watches orchestral productions on YouTube.

Last year, I took him to see an orchestra playing in a shopping mall, a familiar environment (I have a store there which he visits often) and with room for him to be active or noisy if he wished. He sat with eager anticipation for a full hour prior to showtime, and expressed disappointment that the orchestra lacked a harp and a bassoon.

The music was disappointing as they played only popular carols.

This year, The Nutcracker was on, and there would be an orchestra! I booked a box with the best view of the pit, assuming he wouldn’t watch the dancers onstage. He was brave going into the theatre, and made sure I kept an arm around him. But he sat, and to my amazement, thoroughly enjoyed Act I, watching the dancers and rooting for the Mouse King.

In Act II he lost patience, as did I, frankly, as the variations were extended needlessly to show off dancers and choreography that were not particularly stellar. Little A wanted to leave midway through Waltz of the Flowers, so we wandered around the theatre’s gallery section until the ballet was properly done.

Still, achievement unlocked! I was so proud of Little A, as were my parents, sister and niece, who accompanied us. Box 1 will be our seats of choice in shows to come. Who knows, we may end up with season tickets to the symphony in the future.

Life Skills

There are things everyone should grow up knowing how to do, besides being a decent, kind, polite human being. Knowing how to change tyres, light bulbs, and the oil in car are skills I sadly lack in practice, though not in theory. More basic ones, like household chores, are down pat.

Little A is little by little learning these small things, and already enjoys helping me at the supermarket and "cooking" his own favourite dishes. We still struggle with proper hair washing and tooth brushing as I need to do the final once-overs at bath and bedtime, but we will get there, I am certain.

Next up, allowing him to help me load the washing machine. 

Puppet Shows, Singing Stints, and Selfie Smiles

Lately my son has discovered show business in a more personal way. His favourite YouTube videos these days are those of children who re-create and video their own shows. He has taken to doing the same, and was especially thrilled when I showed him how the "selfie" mode on the iPad's camera worked.

I may have created a post-millennial monster. Still, if it encourages self-expression, originality, and communicative expression, it is not at all a bad thing for a child with the kind of challenges Little A faces. So for now, we're going for it. He's definitely ready for his close-up. 

Animal Adventures, Again

Among the things Little A has long loved are animals and musical instruments. Recently, we discovered that a nearby toy store, one we haven't visited in a long time, has opened a pet section! While at first he was scared to set foot inside the "pet room", by the second visit he was brave enough to take a closer look, and within a few more visits had taken to spending time with the animals, playing them classical music and watching them.

Sadly, in a couple of weeks all the pets had gone, either been sold or returned to the other pet store across the road, and the animal room had reverted to what it used to be - a storage area for pet habitats and furniture.

We will come back from time to time and check if the pets have returned. In the meantime, there are other places to see and things to do in the limited time after school, including the duck pond at the mall where one of my stores is located. No shortage of animals in the city, it seems. 

Car Pools and Doggie Dates

Little A's newest "cousin" is of the four-legged variety. While not yet giving up hope on having another child (or two), my sister and her family took charge of a puppy over the New Year, and said puppy is now nearly a year old. He goes everywhere dogs are permitted with his human family, especially on weekends.

One Saturday at my parents' house, Little A and his cousins, plus doggie, got to play together. It was his first time to play with this particular animal, and the photos sent by my nieces show they had a grand time chasing each other around the house. It was very different to his interactions with our cat, and he seemed to enjoy it a lot, as did his new canine friend.

On the human interaction side, Little A now has a schoolmate to share the car with on Fridays after school. One of the mums asked if her son could find a ride to her office a few days a week, and I volunteered Fridays.

All new things require an adjustment period, and this was no different. Little A was used to calling the shots after school, on where to go and what to do. So as expected, there was whining and crying the first two Fridays. By week three, however, he'd gotten used to having to make a drop-off prior to his Friday after-school activity, and on week 4 we took the little boy with us to the shops while his mum was stuck in a meeting.

This little boy is quite the opposite of Little A as he is very, very verbal. I know Little A senses the difference when we are in the car and schoolmate chats nonstop about things we see, and what he is interested in. Still, he has adjusted well and knows he is paid no less attention to simply because I cannot hear him from the driver's seat. The other boy also adjusts to Little A's pace and interests. While I found it physically challenging to monitor two boys in separate parts of a play centre, it was managed, and when the schoolmate's mum came to collect him, we talked about doing it again.

I look forward to more play dates, whether or not the children actually play together. There is awareness, and consideration of the other, which is always a good thing.

Second Trip to Singapore

Since last year's trip was such a huge success, Big A decided the family ought to do a repeat trip to Singapore. This time, Little A was much less anxious, as he knew exactly what to expect.

We added one more day, and ended up returning to the Zoo, his favourite place. This year we skipped Universal Studios, but visited the Cloud Forest, which wasn't a must-see but was a good experience to have ticked off our Singapore lists.

Now that he's a "seasoned" traveller, we are aiming to get him used to longer and longer plane rides. The end goal is Melbourne, London, Hawaii, or even the West Coast. Next up, Japan!