The Tovington Post

Goodness me!

A few days ago Tova had the grommets done. No cancellation this time as it had been about 3 weeks since Tova's last admission to hospital for being sick. I think if it had been any less they wouldn't have done it.

This was our first experience in Casey hospital and our first time going public for Grommets! Wow, what a difference.

Public seem to have so much more time and compassion. They were amazing, all of them. I loath the part where I hold Tova while they put her to sleep, every time I have done it I have said to myself "never again, Yuval is doing it next time, I can't handle it", yet for some reason I do it again (actually Yuval did it always for the first few years). Well gosh, I had an anesthetist nurse holding me while I was holding Tova, there were about 4 or 5 medical people standing around me sitting on a chair and they were all supporting me with kind words and helpful information such as "she will jolt a little as she is falling asleep, but that is normal, don't worry, Tova is fine, she is happily asleep" and things like that.

Then they called me right away even before Tova was awake in the recovery area and didn't mind when I put Tova back on her bed the wrong way around, they just followed my lead because they knew that I know what is best for Tova! It was really something else! Tova recovered better than she has from any other anesthetic in the past. She was hardly sad and signed for a drink pretty soon after getting back up to the ward.

We were home just after lunch time! Tova was a bit sleepy and did have a long afternoon sleep and again went to be at bed time till the morning. She is completely recovered now.

She started creche today. I didn't think it would bother me, but I feel a bit anxious today. I know it will pass quickly and I will just drop her off and run soon!

Nissim is toilet trained almost completely now. It took about 4 days! Unbelievable. He is so clever. He kept refusing for almost this entire year. But I stayed home for 4 days and did nothing but toilet train! He loves undies now! Still night nappies because he loves his bottle at bed time! No worries!

We made it to Mullum and back with NO ADMISSIONS to any hospital

Before we left I gave the Mullumbimby hospital a call (I think it has 15 beds). I wanted to check if they had everything that Tova might need if she got Croup while we were up there. Aunty Liora lives directly across the road from it, so I wasn't worried about how long it would take to get the the hospital, just if they could care for some small like Tova. They said they had everything we may need. We didn't need them! Excellent!

It was a good trip, too short, but really nice to see everyone. Nissim and Lev got on so well. They are great cousins. Nissim is also absolutely obsessed with the eldest of the cousins Edden. Edden didn't mind all the attention because he is a magnificent young man!

We were in Mullum for Edden's Bar Mitvah! The ceremony was in the Gold Coast Shull and then on Sunday he had a big party in Mullum. Both events were fantastic! He is the first of the cousins to have his barmy, the first of many. He did so well it was hard to hold back proud and emotional tears in shull. It also scared me a little that we are going to watch Nissim do the same thing in about 10 years!

The plane was even easier this time because Yuval was with us. The kids sat with him while I mostly played scrabble on the ipad. Yuval also got a fair amount of bejewled in too! Our babies are great flyers!

In Mullum we discovered that we don't need a high chair to feed Tova in, she ate every meal in a regular chair like a big girl. It was great. At home the high chair is easy, but now that we know we can sit her in a 'normal' chair, we will be able to feed her when we are out and about and have no pram nor high chair!

Tova ate well while we were away, she didn't eat anything particularly great, mostly supermarket purchased food because it was so convenient. However, for some reason she gained weight, and is now 10.9kg!

We are back home now and routine is starting to comfort us all.

We are visiting Tassi.

The flight over was pretty easy, the kids were annoyed when the flight attendant told us to turn the ipad off for landing, but we sang and managed.

The Taste of Tassi is incredible. Everyone is happy and friendly, the weather is warm to hot and the food is delicious. The taste is on the docs surrounded by all the Sydney to Hobart Yachts, the buzz in the air is magical. At this time of year, Tassi is like a tropical paradise.

I have dragged the kids around through Salamanca, friends houses and everywhere in between. We had plans to visit my friend Fiona down in the Huon Valley on Monday but Monday morning at about 1.30, Tova woke me up with her noisy breathing.

Sarah (my sister) came over at about 2.30am (her daughter was staying at her grandmothers for the night, making Sarah 'available') and Dad and I drove down the the Royal Hobart Hospital. I told the Triage lady the usual panic "x24 weeker, chronic lung, labored breathing, multiple admissions for respiratory issues including into ICU and she crashes quickly". The lady told me to take a seat. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. But Tova wasn't at her worst so we sat. I had a look around the waiting area and noticed a man in a chair with a blanket and a drip in his arm. I was astonished, as to me it seem really unreasonable to leave  a person in the waiting area with a drip in. After about half an hour, it could have been an hour, the man with the drip and his friend ripped the drip out, threw the drip pole with the attached drip up to the triage window while shouting "the treatment here is disgraceful?" and walked out, I totally agree with him!

Tova crashed quickly and finally they noticed! 5 people surrounded us and sped us off to the resus area where they gave Tova adrenalin and monitored her. Idiots, I told them she crashed quickly, they didn't even listen to her with a stethoscope when we arrived. I can't believe the way Tova was treated. We went down to the ER kids bit, which had plenty of empty beds, so I am still confused why they made us wait. They shouldn't have!

Anyway, I didn't be rude, I did however mention that it was wrong that we were made to wait until the moment after Tova crashed. Everyone in the Hobart Hospital was friendly to me and Tova. It is much nicer than Monash. Monash is so tired and grotty.

When we got to the ward we were given a single room because their policy is that if a patient has been in another hospital with in a month they must be put in isolation. Nice! The room was big and bright with a view of Hobart including a bit of the water front.. Parents get treated much better there too. They even provide breakfast for the parent that stayed the night, oh and meals for one parent.

Tova was quite well by now but we had to stay over night because of Tova's history. The nurses really didn't have much to do with Tova yet they kept coming in every hour or so to ask if there was anything we needed, (food, toys, books, drinks etc) Monash don't do that. Hobart has a much better quality of service. Everyone was friendly.

I was pretty tired after only 2 hours sleep and fell asleep on Monday night at about 9.30pm. It wasn't the worst sleep in the world, but not the best either. I woke a few times in the night and Tova stirred a few times. We both woke at about 7.30am..

Rick (my brother) and his family arrived on Monday night and are staying at Dad's too. So when Tova and I got back to Dads on Tuesday morning everyone was there waiting. Everyone except Nissim, who had stayed at my sisters on Monday night. He was a good boy and didn't mind waking up to Sarah in my bed and spending the day with Dad and Sarah. He had dinner with Lilly and Sarah and Sarah's mums and then slept in Sarah;s bed with Lilly and Sarah. He came back to Dads before lunch time and was so excited to see all the people at Dads house. The kids all had such a wonderful day playing in the sun/shade.

I have lots of photos and will put some up when I get back to Melbourne or find some time before.

You can bugger off now croup! We are so very sick of you

Last week I dropped Nissim off at creche, hung around for a while with Tova and talked to some of the creche workers. I was talking to someone in the room whom had a husky voice, I thought to myself, "here we go, let's see who gets sick from this".

Nissim got a husky voice the next day and then slowly over the next few days developed a fever and was put on antibiotics by the GP.

Yuval and I tried to keep the kids separate so as to keep Tova away from the virus. But of course she ended up getting it and yes again got croup.

Tova and I made it to the hospital at about 8am. She was given pred and monitored. Her O2 levels were fine, but it was obvious she was working harder than normal to breath. The strange thing was I couldn't tell if she had croup or not. Normally she has that barking cough. But I couldn't hear it this time. She seemed to have Asthma. However, after about an hour or so the bark appeared and the doctor told me that the virus had caused Asthma AND croup. wow. Poor chicken.

Yuval took Nissim to Savta Aviva's house for the day while he went to work (and Savta Debbie was in Canberra).

Tova wasn't interested in eating nor drinking much and we didn't push her. It is good having Nissim to learn from, Yuval and I watch Nissim when he is sick, he goes off his food, gets a little grumpy and flat and so does Tova (don't we all?).

A few hours past, perhaps it was about 12pm and the doctor and I agreed that Tova was 'well enough' to go home. I got home, washed the floors, hung out the laundry, did another load and changed the bed linen.

Tova started to breath terribly again, so off we went, back to the hospital. We stayed in Emergency until about 8pm and then on the ward over night. We got home at about 5.30pm this evening.

Tova ate dinner. She isn't her usual self but she is better than she was yesterday.

Nissim is well now, just a little bit of a cough.

Tova had a massive sleep at the hospital today, I was worried she would stay up all night, but she went to bed at the normal time after bath and books (7.30pm).

I am not as exhausted as I should be, but I do feel revolting due to all the chips and chocolate I lived off from the hospital vending machines. Gross.

Other than that, eating is the same. Perhaps next year when Tova is in creche with other kids she will learn how to eat more independently. Other kids are apparently the best teachers. I hope so!

I was laying on the fold out hospital bed this morning (more about that to follow). Tova was still sleeping in the cot next to me. It took me a while to wake up, I spent the first 20 mins just staring at the ceiling, which isn't as boring as it sounds because I was in the children's ward, where the ceilings are painted with all sorts of cartoon characters. I was staring at stars and a space man.

Tova was still sleeping so I turned on facebook on my phone. My phone with Vodafone has such bad reception in the hospital, in ER there is no reception at all, which is really annoying because in an emergency I usually have so much to organise, like canceling appointments and telling family what is going on. So, I was trying to load facebook, which was taking ages, I could read the grayed out status from one of the mums who was in Austria with us (Lucy's mum from Ireland, whom is continuously in my thoughts). The stupid reception wouldn't let the page load properly for about 5 mins. All I could read was something like "I am so sorry to hear about our friend all the way on the other side of the world, poor Ollie".

I was getting really annoyed and scared. Finally the page loaded. I am so devastated to write that Little Ollie from New Zealand, who was in our weaning group at Graz, has passed away. OMG, I can't believe it. It feels very surreal to write about him in the past tense, but he really was adorable and treasured. His 3rd birthday is coming up very soon, I remember that he had his birthday in Graz. Wow, the family must be torn in all sorts of horrific and traumatic ways. My heart goes out to them. I am so sorry to hear this news. He had a lung infection and just couldn't fight it. Unbelievable.

So, I was laying there reading this, while next to me was my little Tova back in hospital for the 3rd or 4th time since Saturday now diagnosed with Asthma, Croup and a LUNG INFECTION! wow. 3 things that can be fatal to our fragile/strong babies. wow.

When she woke up this morning I hugged her just that little bit tighter. Actually we were rolling around and playing in my fold out 'bed', until a nurse came in and busted us. Time for Obs.

We were sent home on Sunday from hospital. Tova wasn't breathing quite right and I kept thinking to myself that if she was like this and we hadn't been to hospital yet, I would be rushing down there for sure. But they had said that there was nothing else they could do for her and that home was the best place for her. Not sure why I fall for that every time, but I do. Even though I knew something wasn't right, I was happy to go home because they weren't doing anything different to what I would be doing at home.

Monday morning we went to the GP, she sent us home, then in the afternoon we (Yuval and I) called the ambulance. They came, looked at Tova, took her temp (over 38), were concerned and wooshed Tova and I off to the hospital around the corner. The Ambo guys were so amazing, what lovely compassionate people! I am really touched by their kindness.

We spent the next many hours in the Emergency Department. Tova was observed. Eventually we decided that it was safe to go home. But still I wasn't sure, but I didn't know why, other than Tova breathing short fast breaths, I couldn't explain it. The Doctors couldn't hear anything on her lungs and she wasn't croup breathing nor was there any wheeze. They did say we could stay there for a few more hours or even the night if we didn't feel comfortable going home. They told me that the ward had no beds even if we wanted to go up there we couldn't. The ER was so busy with families coming and going and the waiting room had plenty more waiting to get in. I haven't noticed it being that busy before.

Home we went.

Tuesday Tova was still vacant and exhausted. But I wasn't sure what to do because the doctors had told me Tova was fine. hmmm. So Tuesday night Tova wanted to go to bed early even though she had spent much of the day sleeping. She woke at about midnight coughing, choking, croup breathing and wheezing a little. Yuvie and I gave her panadol and ventolin. Eventually she settled enough to sleep, she was still breathing with difficultly, but again, I was confused.

At 3.30am ish, she woke again, this time Yuvie was very worried and called the Ambulance. They came very quickly. They were quite/very worried and gave Tova a ventolin neb, took her temp and other obs and again Tova and I were whooshed away to the hospital around the corner. We were put in the bed in ER that is closest to the doctors/nurses station (this is the spot where we often end up, when we are in this bed, I know it is bad). Tova was given the good old Adrenalin that works quick. I think they gave her more pred too. Tova's breathing responded really well to the Adrenalin. It was the first time since Saturday that I had seen her breath almost easy. She was also put on humidified 02, which helped her lots!

Sometime, many hours after we go to ER, Tova had a chest xray, she has a lung infection. She was quickly put on Antibiotics. I mentioned to them that an IV would distress her much more than the Oral medicine, because finding a vain in Tova is almost impossible, it would distress her so much. I was pleased that they didn't feel that they HAD to do IV. I also convinced them not to put the tapes on her face for the 02prongs, that stuff is so hard to get off without causing Tova pain. So, that was good.

We spent the night and this morning in Hospital. Tova was breathing so much better this morning, pretty much like normal, with the occasional cough. But not a croup cough, just a normal sick person cough. Yuval and I decided as Tova was so much improved, it was best to take her home because of all the sick people in the hospital (we didn't want Tova to catch anything more).

I am hoping so much that this is the end of it. I almost know it is. Her breathing is almost perfect now, not like the past few days. I can't believe I came home with her breathing like she was over the past few days. I should have never left the hospital on Sunday. The doctors told me that they didn't pick up on it because when the listened to her chest there was no noise, usually with a chest infection they can hear noise. There was no indication that she needed an xray. I don't know, she was clearly struggling to breath, something was clearly wrong. I just don't know why I didn't question it more. I guess I didn't know the questions to ask. NOW I DO! If it happens again I will know what to ask for.

Nissim came in on Wednesday morning with Yuval (before Yuval went to work and before my mum went to pick Nissim up). Nissim was a little concerned about Tova and the hospital. But was a good boy. He just kept telling Yuval that he and Nissim should now go to Nissim's house. He also recommended that it would be best for Tova and Ima to come home too, but was ok when I told him that Tova and Ima had to stay for a little longer.

He has been at mums and creche, he will go to mums again tonight and home tomorrow evening. Mum's are great. I miss Nissim loads, but I need to get some rest tonight before my eyes fall out of my head.

Tova has gone off her food and hasn't really eaten much since Saturday. I would be scared to weigh her. However, when we arrived in the hospital on Saturday they weighed her. She was 10.8something.  Wow, almost 11kg!

OH, also, one of the doctors (Dr Debbie from King David, I know this because she pronounced Tova's name correctly, my first reaction was "oh, you are Jewish", she thought that was funny, I said I knew because she didn't say toe-va). Anyways, this doctor said that one of the reasons Tova may get Croup so often is because when she was intubated as a baby for so many months, it possibly left scaring (oh my poor baby suffered so much back then). When there are scars on the upper airways, it can contribute to the frequency and symptoms of croup. Interesting.

We will miss you Ollie, you will always live on in our memories you precious little man!