31st January to 5th Febrary - INDUCTION - Week 3

 31st January to 5th February

One Wednesday my Uncle came to collect me in the morning in his car to take me to a new hospital in Leeds, Leeds General Infirmary. I had to go again on Thursday. I liked the new hospital a lot and the people there were really nice and friendly.

I like the new hospital because I only have to go for a day then I get to come home. I don't like going when I can't eat because they are giving me an anaesthetic, put me to sleep for a little while. 

They have lots of games and puzzles for me to play at the hospital and I get to do painting and colouring and I bring something home to Nana every time I go.

On Wednesday when I met the Doctor he asked me questions like where do you live? and How old are you? I told him I live at home and that I was 5, well I looked 5 with my new haircut!

He told me that because I was being so sick with the medicine I was taking that I was going to have a tube put in my nose again.

This time I wasn't so scared and I was able to talk. I also ate and drank normally and it didn't make me as sad as before. It worked and I stopped being so sick with my medicine!

When I got home I went out to play and blow bubbles in the garden. 

I had to go to the hospital for an injection one day when my uncle came to collect me and they did a blood test. I was going to have to have another blood transfusion but this time I asked my Granddad to stay with me and hold my hand at the hospital and I got to go home after lunch! 

Mum Says: Starting at the new hospital was a relief. The Staff were all lovely. I was once again bombarded with papers, names and telephone numbers - many of which I still don't know. It was good to feel that I was starting to understand how the treatment was going to work, what terminologies they were using meant and that generally we aren't the only people going through this. So may parents are there regularly going trough what we are. I did feel robbed not only of my child's health but of my child. Alice has been so with drawn and quiet and not herself. We were having problems with her sleeping at night, the hunger that would wake her at 4 in the morning and the strange food cravings, one week chicken nuggets the next mashed potato with cheese. Tomato soup for breakfast and then 20 little nibbles throughout the day not 3 meals. There was one incident at the hospital. I'd taken her the nuggets as requested for the last 3 days and a little girl had quavers. Alice would not eat until she could have quavers and then ate 3 packets. we bought her quavers and she hasn't eaten a packet since! Having the NG Tube put back in was a big disappointment to us as she hadn't spoke, eaten or smiled for 3 days when they put it in at GOSH but she obviously felt ill enough to need it as this time she was almost used to it by the time we got home!