Fasting away!

Tuesday was a long day. In the morning we were greeted by the news that Victoria would be Nil By Mouth, as they were hoping to get her into theatre to have a Central Line fitted. This would be a positive move as Victoria understandably hated having a cannula in both hands, and this would enable them to be removed. Better still, it would obviate the need to have blood taken from her arm, which quite frankly was a traumatic experience for her. However the caveat in this was the word "hoping". Throughout the day I would hear the doctors on the phone to the theatre, trying to negotiate a time for her to go down.

During this time we had an endless stream of professional carers arrive to look after various differing aspects of Victoria stay in hospital. We had the "play" person, the teacher, the dentist, and then the best one of all, the Nutritionist. On a day when Victoria can't eat or drink they send someone over to talk about food! You couldn't make it up.

I had decided to support her by fasting myself, and as the day wore on, I started to really feel the hunger, but kept my head down to support Victoria. At this point, we were in a room right behind the nurses station, and I overheard the nurse say "we've managed to get one of the children in to have their line fitted". I wondered if that was Victoria, or whether her fasting would be in vain. Time continued to tick past slowly and Victoria was getting really thirsty and you could see the frustration in her face. To make matters worse, she had to face yet another blood test, and at first was reluctant to cooperate with a doctor whose bed side manner was, to say the least, harsh. In the end, I had to hold my arm around the back of her neck, the palm of my hand on her face so I could turn it away from where the blood was being taken, and then gently put my weight over her so she couldn't move, effectively pinning her down. A nurse held her other hand. This made me feel dreadful. It was a really uncomfortable position to be in, and I was as relieved as her when it was done. At least this would be the last time she would have to give blood in this way, hopefully.

We lifted the mood by playing Guitar Hero, with me on Guitar and Victoria on drums. We played "Some Might Say". In my head I could hear: "Some might say, that we've been waiting hours, go and tell it to the man in theatre 2, some might say, that we should have the powers, to make the surgeons do what they must do, Some might say, we will find a brighter day..." One of the nurses came in and joined in on lead vocals, who said Oasis were over.

At around 5:30 we got the message that we were next to go. There was a baby that was ahead of us in the queue. I felt like we were an aircraft in a holding pattern over Heathrow.

At around 6:30 we were told to get ready, and shortly after we were off. As Victoria drifted off into a drug induced sleep, I headed off to the canteen... finally I could eat!!! However eating was a bit of disaster, I didn't like the Chicken Lasagne on offer, and I spilt vinegar over my cherry pie and custard.

Before she went into theatre, Victoria said that the one thing that she wanted more than anything to eat was an Aberdeen Angus burger from BK. So while she was under, and I was removing vinegar from my pudding, I googled the nearest BK, and a map of how to get there. When Victoria had recovered from the anaesthetic enough to want to food, I was duly dispatched, along with orders from the nursing staff to find my way through the murky streets of Leicester, late at night. Then a problem struck. I arrived at BK at 10:30, and it had shut at 10:00. There I was, in a strange city, alone, and helpless. As I wandered around aimlessly, I stumbled upon a Maccy D's. Brilliant, or so I thought. I rang through to the ward to get the revised orders, and Victoria was beside herself. She didn't want MD's, she wanted Aberdeen Angus or nothing. At this point, I felt so utterly useless, I'd been as helpless as a beached whale all day, and now, the one thing that I thought I could provide for my daughter had disappeared, along with any hope I had, like water down a drain. It took 15 minutes of persuasion to encourage Victoria to have a Maccy D's. I started the mile long walk back to the hospital, head hung down, 4 large meals and drinks weighing down on my arms just like this whole episode was weighing down on my conscience.

Finally, I arrived back exhausted, mentally and physically drained, and at 11:30, we ate. Never, in the field of human burgers, had so much, tasted so good, to so few. So I finished the day by promising she could have her Angus Burger tomorrow. She settled in for the night, weary that she didn't want to cause any damage by pulling on the central line. After reassurance from the nurse, we both settled down to sleep.

The lateness of our meal meant we couldn't sleep. We sat up at 4 in the morning and discussed my disgust at some parents for the names they give their children. We laughed at John Thomas, Fanny Adams, and Jenny Taylor. I frowned on the Apples, Fifi Trixibell, and Peaches of this world. We smiled, and finally retired to sleep.