Its Monday 14th March 2011, 18:30 and I’m just sitting down to update my blog after what has been probably one of the worst weekends of my life. It all started on Friday morning when I received a phone call at school from Lincoln’s nursery saying he had been sick. My wife promptly picked him up and he continued being sick throughout Friday afternoon. Lincoln had seemingly caught some nasty sickness bug. Unfortunately on Saturday, Lincoln had zero energy and didn’t really want to do anything, he looked very ill and very tired. We assumed it was a 24 hour bug and assured ourselves he would be better soon.
Sunday arrived and Lincoln was even worse than the day before, the horrible symptoms of a sickness bug continued, all the while Lincoln was very very lethargic. We called the out of hours doctor yesterday at 6pm as Lincoln once again projectile vomited everywhere. The appointment was quite late in the evening so we took the drastic measure of taking him to A&E.
What are the chances! The night we go to A&E and everyone and his brother is there with everything from a cut eye, to a piece of metal sticking out of a young boys leg! Lincoln all the while is not at his best and as a parent I was getting increasingly frustrated at how long the wait was when you have a small child.
We did eventually get tended to and ended up on the children’s ward where we were seen by a paediatric doctor. Thankfully Lincoln is OK (well, as well as can be expected under the circumstances) but it would appear he has contracted a particularly nasty stomach bug that could last up to seven days! We brought Lincoln home at 10:30 pm and he couldn’t wait to go to bed.
Thankfully, Lincoln slept all night undisturbed by any nastiness, only for it to return the very next morning. So as it stands right now, I’ve spent the day at school worrying about him, and he is now in bed, still not well. My main problem is, as a habitual problem solver I feel complete and utter abject failure that I can’t make him better. As any parent would, I would swap places with him now just to make him feel better. It breaks my heart when he is asking for food and we can only give him very small amounts right now.
So, as far as being a parent is concerned, don’t let anyone tell you it’s easy because it’s not. There are many moments of joy, laughter and happiness and for sure they far outweigh the bad, but when your child is ill and there’s nothing you can do, its the most heartbreaking thing in the world. I’m hopeful that my poorly little boy may turn the corner tomorrow.
Putting it all into perspective, Lincoln has a stomach bug (albeit a very nasty one) and will no doubt be back to his chatty, playful self in the very near future, the news is on the TV in front of me, and the scenes in Japan are devastating, what has happened there has literally shook the world to its very core, thousands have lost their lives. No doubt there are whole families that have perished or parents that have lost their children, either way, Japan certainly will not be the same in the short term or even the long term. It’s easy to forget what matters and just as easy to take what you have for granted. I am thankful for what I have, and grateful for every day I can spend with my family.
Fingers crossed for a sick-less night for Lincoln and a bright fresh start in the morning.
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