Monday 5 September 2011

CHANGE

I won't lie.   So far, this move has not been easy.  The night before we left London, we all noticed that Nicholas had symptoms of a urinary tract infection.  It was too late to call in a doctor, so we just carried on with our travel plans.  After affectionate (and a little tearful) hugs goodbye with our extended family of staff at Grosvenor Square, Nicholas left in a black cab with Alvaro, bound for Paddington station where he would take the Heathrow Express and meet us at the airport - a train ride that would save him the effort of sitting in an uncomfortable van for an hour.  When we met Nick at the airport, it was obvious that he was ill.  Nicholas was feverish and nauseated at the airport and the flight was less eventful, but uncomfortable.  He managed some smiles when at the Ottawa end when the warmest group greeted us - family, friends and Rotary Home staff all gathered to give us a hand with the luggage and a collective hug.  Christine, our primary nurse, was concerned.  Nicholas by now had a very high heart rate and real temperature.  We decided to try simple hydration and then reassess.  Luckily, our PLAN A worked and Nicholas was much improved after a few hours of water via the tube.

Thanks to a house call by our wonderful GP, we now have a prescription for amoxicillin and Nick seems much more himself.  But today he's sneezing, so a cold may be on its way.  His nights have been much better from a seizure perspective since we arrived.  I believe that may be due to his brand new alternating air mattress.   Nicholas seems very comfortable in bed and we know that pain is a seizure trigger, so this new state of affairs is a very welcome change.  Hopefully, his virtually seizure-free nights will continue.

Sometimes life makes you wonder what planet is in your personal retrograde.  So many small things going wrong is mystifying.  We already have two nurses who are either ill or injured.  A glass of water was spilled on Nick's new laptop.  My laptop coincidentally failed and needed a new screen display.  The internet and the telephone at home do not work.  Nicholas got locked out of his hotmail account and I am locked out of Nick's case coordinating Tyze website - home to all his appointments and care notes.  Today on the highway, a stone hit my windshield and cracked it.  I could go on.

The big stuff is all good and we are happy to be near family, be in our home and know that Nicholas is safe and happy.  His cold will get better, the windshield will be repaired.  The staff will all be trained and Nicholas will have his long awaited chance to see the Ottawa Senators play live at Scotiabank Place.  We'll get there.


2 comments:

Cindi said...

always interesting, often a challenge, and never boring...
welcome home guys

Jo Ann said...

Very eventful to say the least. I'm glad Nick is on the mend....I am hoping Nick's seizures stay improved. Welcome home ...we need you!!