Fu was hospitalised! How would I ever had imagined my bubbly, healthy little big boy will be hospitalised?
It all started on Thursday evening when I was feeding him his dinner. I thought he probably choked on something when he vomited as he never liked to chew his food. However, it was strange as his vomit had a sour smell. Vomit due to choking usually does not have this sour smell. He didn’t finish his dinner after he was washed up and was happily chuckling and playing with his daddy when he was back.
Without warning, fu vomited again. Ky brought him to the toilet to clean him up and he vomited again in the kitchen on the way to the toilet. This was when I started to feel really uneasy. I asked for glucolin from my mil before we headed home in case he couldn’t take his milk.
Having vomited thrice and not finishing his dinner, fu was clearly hungry and eager for his milk. I was feeling really anxious when I went to the toilet after giving him his milk. My greatest fear came true when I heard a loud cry and only to find his mattress, blanket, pyjamas and face covered in his vomit. Ky promptly cleaned him up and we were planning where to bring him to see a doctor. Fu saw his unfinished milk and asked for it but we had to hard-heartedly reject his “drink milk” request. We offered him some water instead only to have him vomit whatever water he took. It became a vicious cycle. He would vomit, feel thirsty, ask for water, vomit the water, feel thirsty.. Ky soon learnt that we had to stop giving him water and I was questioning whether it’s right to do so.
By the time we reached KKH’s A&E, it was almost 12mn. There were lots of sick children waiting and during the long wait, fu kept asking to drink water. We relented and gave him his water bottle and he wouldn’t let go and we had to take it away from him by force.. Our number was finally called at 1am. The doctor diagnosed him as having gastroenteritis, commonly known as the stomach flu. She prescribed domperidone to be administered through the anus. I felt very proud of fu when he co-operated when the nurse inserted the domper. The domper requires 1 hour to take effect and we were to stay in KKH and wait for 1 hour. Thereafter, we will have to give him 15ml of pedialyte in 15min interval and to monitor him for any vomiting.
1 hour was a long wait and we took fu out for a drive through his favourite CTE tunnel so he could catch some sleep. At 2am, we gave him the first 15ml of pedialyte. Out it came within 10min. He could retain his next 2 15ml of pedialyte but not for long. Out came everything when we were giving him his last 15ml. At 2.45am, the doctor called for us and asked if he still vomited. She had to admit him for fear of dehydration. We went to the admissions area and it was 4am when we reached the ward. Fu vomited again the moment he reached the ward. When the doctor saw him, she said he had to be put on drips cos he was not able to retain any water. I knew that’s good for him but was not looking forward to the insertion of the needle.
I carried him to the treatment room. He knew something was going to happen and was already feeling very scared the moment we stepped in. The doctor asked us to leave the room and we could hear him fighting and crying “mummy come inside! Mummy come inside!”. The doctor had to ask for another nurse to help hold him and I don’t know how long it took. I only know ky was pacing up and down outside the room hearing his son’s cries. He was out with the IV needle inserted and was trying to pull it off with the other hand “take out”. It was scary to see that and the nurses had to bandage the whole thing up so he couldn’t pull it off.
It was not before 5am that Fu finally slept. He was given the drip (sodium chloride with glucose and potassium). We were told not to give him anything to drink until afternoon. According to the doctors at KKH, the way to treat children with gastric flu is to let their gut rest and start with fluids really slowly. Again, 15ml every 15min and if he could retain the fluid, increase to 30ml.. etc etc. I kept wondering whether Dr Belinda would had treated fu differently. I gave Belinda’s clinic a call and described what happened to the nurse. The nurse who calls Fu Dr Ralph told me she’ll ask Dr Belinda to call back.
Callback she did, she went “so serious ar? Admitted?”. She told me to tell her my story and ask her the questions I want to ask. She told me to let him stay for another day since the drip is a traumatic experience and good for him and if he can retain the fluids, we can insist on discharging him on Saturday. Hearing what Dr Belinda said gave me a confidence boost of what KKH is doing is correct (pardon my skepticism).
Fu was really bored in the hospital. He said he wanted to go home.. “boyboy want take car, boyboy want go home”.. sigh.. but we had to stay another night.
Fu was progressing well and retained whatever we gave him. Another night passed, and doctors came and said they are pleased with his progress. They halved fu’s drip dosage and we were planning for discharge at 5pm. When the doctor came and confirmed his discharge, we were sooooooo happy. We were told to expect some diarrhea though (seems like it's part of the process).
It all started on Thursday evening when I was feeding him his dinner. I thought he probably choked on something when he vomited as he never liked to chew his food. However, it was strange as his vomit had a sour smell. Vomit due to choking usually does not have this sour smell. He didn’t finish his dinner after he was washed up and was happily chuckling and playing with his daddy when he was back.
Without warning, fu vomited again. Ky brought him to the toilet to clean him up and he vomited again in the kitchen on the way to the toilet. This was when I started to feel really uneasy. I asked for glucolin from my mil before we headed home in case he couldn’t take his milk.
Having vomited thrice and not finishing his dinner, fu was clearly hungry and eager for his milk. I was feeling really anxious when I went to the toilet after giving him his milk. My greatest fear came true when I heard a loud cry and only to find his mattress, blanket, pyjamas and face covered in his vomit. Ky promptly cleaned him up and we were planning where to bring him to see a doctor. Fu saw his unfinished milk and asked for it but we had to hard-heartedly reject his “drink milk” request. We offered him some water instead only to have him vomit whatever water he took. It became a vicious cycle. He would vomit, feel thirsty, ask for water, vomit the water, feel thirsty.. Ky soon learnt that we had to stop giving him water and I was questioning whether it’s right to do so.
By the time we reached KKH’s A&E, it was almost 12mn. There were lots of sick children waiting and during the long wait, fu kept asking to drink water. We relented and gave him his water bottle and he wouldn’t let go and we had to take it away from him by force.. Our number was finally called at 1am. The doctor diagnosed him as having gastroenteritis, commonly known as the stomach flu. She prescribed domperidone to be administered through the anus. I felt very proud of fu when he co-operated when the nurse inserted the domper. The domper requires 1 hour to take effect and we were to stay in KKH and wait for 1 hour. Thereafter, we will have to give him 15ml of pedialyte in 15min interval and to monitor him for any vomiting.
1 hour was a long wait and we took fu out for a drive through his favourite CTE tunnel so he could catch some sleep. At 2am, we gave him the first 15ml of pedialyte. Out it came within 10min. He could retain his next 2 15ml of pedialyte but not for long. Out came everything when we were giving him his last 15ml. At 2.45am, the doctor called for us and asked if he still vomited. She had to admit him for fear of dehydration. We went to the admissions area and it was 4am when we reached the ward. Fu vomited again the moment he reached the ward. When the doctor saw him, she said he had to be put on drips cos he was not able to retain any water. I knew that’s good for him but was not looking forward to the insertion of the needle.
I carried him to the treatment room. He knew something was going to happen and was already feeling very scared the moment we stepped in. The doctor asked us to leave the room and we could hear him fighting and crying “mummy come inside! Mummy come inside!”. The doctor had to ask for another nurse to help hold him and I don’t know how long it took. I only know ky was pacing up and down outside the room hearing his son’s cries. He was out with the IV needle inserted and was trying to pull it off with the other hand “take out”. It was scary to see that and the nurses had to bandage the whole thing up so he couldn’t pull it off.
It was not before 5am that Fu finally slept. He was given the drip (sodium chloride with glucose and potassium). We were told not to give him anything to drink until afternoon. According to the doctors at KKH, the way to treat children with gastric flu is to let their gut rest and start with fluids really slowly. Again, 15ml every 15min and if he could retain the fluid, increase to 30ml.. etc etc. I kept wondering whether Dr Belinda would had treated fu differently. I gave Belinda’s clinic a call and described what happened to the nurse. The nurse who calls Fu Dr Ralph told me she’ll ask Dr Belinda to call back.
Callback she did, she went “so serious ar? Admitted?”. She told me to tell her my story and ask her the questions I want to ask. She told me to let him stay for another day since the drip is a traumatic experience and good for him and if he can retain the fluids, we can insist on discharging him on Saturday. Hearing what Dr Belinda said gave me a confidence boost of what KKH is doing is correct (pardon my skepticism).
Fu was really bored in the hospital. He said he wanted to go home.. “boyboy want take car, boyboy want go home”.. sigh.. but we had to stay another night.
Fu was progressing well and retained whatever we gave him. Another night passed, and doctors came and said they are pleased with his progress. They halved fu’s drip dosage and we were planning for discharge at 5pm. When the doctor came and confirmed his discharge, we were sooooooo happy. We were told to expect some diarrhea though (seems like it's part of the process).
Some pictures
look at his big bandage
at the play area with popo
Fu adapted well playing with one hand :)At home, I felt my throat was starting to burn, nose was congested. Sigh.. looks like I was falling sick. Woke with burning throat and fever on Sunday morning. I left fu under the total care of super daddy. Only giving him instructions of how to prepare fu’s food and almost slept the whole day. I called the GP downstairs but they refused to see anymore patients saying they are full. I’m so lucky fu has a super daddy who showered him, played with him, cooked his meals, fed him etcetc.. on top of that, even managed to do all the laundry and vacuumed the floor! Isn’t he amazing? :)
Daddy, I offer you, the crown... you're the king of daddies!
2 comments:
my poor ah fu... chaim chaim... must be in pain lor i think... haiz...
poor thing.
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