adam update sunday 16 dec

I took Adam into UCH on Thursday for a bag of platelets, everyone was a bit nervous because of his reactions to platelets but he none so needed to have a transfusion. Fortunately his reaction was able to be controlled so he got a full bag; he has very good mind control as is able to control his breathing for a short while to prevent the fast onset of the reaction.

His blood count showed that he was neutropaenic and I said to the docs that I expected he’d be back in before the weekend (note to self…. Don’t make predictions; they have an unfortunate way of coming true!)

On Friday I was at work on site and I txt him to ask how he was, he replied that he thought his leg may be infected and he was in pain. I called him and he said that he thought he needed to go into UCH. As he never, ever asks to go in I assumed it was serious and went home to have a look at his leg. It was obvious from the redness and swelling that it was infected so we jumped (well, Adam kinda hobbled and hopped) into the car.

When we arrived at UCH they confirmed the infection and put a cannula in so that they could start some antibiotics, we had packed a case anyway so were admitted to a ward.

Admission to the ward is an interesting concept, the ward sister in daycare speaks to the bed manager and specifically requests a single room for Adam as he is at risk of infection and neutropaenic, we wait for a number of hours and then get taken to a ward in the main hospital where we are shown to a bed on an open ward, we refuse to go to the bed as it would put Adam at risk and the bed manager cogitates as to whether he is neutropaenic enough, I get a bit arsey and oddly sarcastic (who moi?!)

And then eventually, a good few hours later we find ourselves in a single side room. This time on an old ladies ward where the nurses seem to be more interested in themselves than the patients and Adam is a novelty and they aren’t sure how to deal with him, quite frankly the nurse he had (who was able to grow a better beard than me!) was only just more use than a chocolate teapot.

During the night another nurse came to give him a blood transfusion and to cut a long story short she didn’t remove all the air from the giving set and I woke at 3 in the morning to hear him asking her whether or not she should be connecting the tube up as there was a lot of air in it, she told him there was nothing in the pipe, he pointed out that as we live on earth then unless there was a vacuum in the pipe it must be full of air (no idea where he gets his sarcasm from) she didn’t seem to understand and so I reiterated in my best condescending manner, which I usually reserve for when I’m half asleep having had no real sleep for a good while. And I thought she had then primed the tube properly.

To cut a long story short, she proceeded to administer the blood, including the large amount of air, Adam was clearly distressed and thought that she had dome something that was likely to kill him! He was properly terrified and very upset. Thankfully he was ok but no thanks to the nurse. It transpires that actually, the body can tolerate a fair amount of air injected into the bloodstream but he has always been told that there should be none in the pipe.

A formal complaint will be followed up tomorrow.

By the following morning the infection was much, much worse and he was in a lot of pain with a huge swollen knee and redness halfway up his leg.

The docs pointed out that they have limited options in their fight against infection for someone with Adams situation and I was reminded that he is only ever one of these infections away from being in a very dark place unless we get him into hospital quickly.

During the course of the weekend he appears to have turned the corner and has been moved today to T13 which is his normal ward so he feels much safer and calmer, the pain in his leg is slightly reduced and he seems in much better mood… we hope for this to continue.

And Alton Towers thought they had the best rollercoaster!

Love to all

Colin