My baby Ryan was sick for a couple of days. He had a fever that wouldn't go away and persisted between 38 to 39 deg celsius. I brought him to the GP on Friday and got some medicine to cure the sypmtoms. On Saturday afternoon, my helper noticed a bump near his anal region which looked like a boil. We got a bit worried but thought it was due to heatiness. (Heatiness being a condition which Chinese believe happens when one has consumed too much food said to be heaty in nature, causing the body to react defensively). Nevertheless, we brought him back to the GP who inspected the boil and immediately diagnosed it as an abscess. I had no clue what an abscess was and thought it was just a normal boil resulting from some viral infection.
The GP wrote a letter of referral for KK Hospital and we sent Ryan there. After some waiting, it was explained to us that he had an abscess which was a result of infection and there was a canal of infection leading from his anus to the "boil". And the "boil" had to be cut to drain out the pus. Technically, Ryan needed what was known medically as "Incision and drainage of periannal abscess, keep in view fulislotomy". Fulislotomy referred to removal of the canal between the anus and the abscess. At first the doctor who examined him in the emergency department said that they probably could operate on him at 1am, the earliest possible after a fast of 6 hours.
Ryan had to be moved around on Saturday night from the pre-screening to the waiting room and then to admissions and to the ward. At the ward, he was very tired and sleepy but he could only sleep in fits as he was woken by the surgeons visiting him for check up. It was then decided that it wasn't fair for him to go for an op after 12 midnight so he was scheduled for 7am the next morning. He also needed an x-ray because he had a bad case of cough with phlegm and slight runny nose. Since he needed to fast for 6 hours before the op, he needed to take one last feed before 1am otherwise his body might not be able to take the long bout without sustenance.
Much to my dismay Ryan refused to drink milk at 12am even though it was 4 hours since his last drink. I tried very hard to hoax him but no means no and he is one strong baby who was bent on going to sleep as he was very exhausted. So I resorted to using the syringe to force feed him. I managed only 2oz of milk and he just slept in protest. After consulting the nurses, it was decided that he needed a drink of glucose by 3am to have the sustenance. Any later and he may face complications if he vomits during surgery. I tried to feed him at 3am and faced the same resistance. For an exhausted baby, he had a lot of fight in him. Out came the syringe and this time it was another 2oz of glucose water before he slept in protest again.
I was helpless and all I could do was pray that my baby's body was strong enough to carry him through the long hours ahead.
At about 7am we headed down to the operation theatre. I carried him to the changing room. I put on a smock and changed my slippers while he was checked by the anaesthetist. Ryan had to undergo general anaesthesia because it is difficult to handle fussy babies unlike adults who can control themselves and can do with just local anaesthesia for such an operation. Due to his phlegm they told me he would be put on a high dependency bed after the operation for observation in case complications arose. If his airwaves are sensitive to the anaesthesia, then he might have asthma or pneumonia. That scared the hell out of me.
I carried him into the operation theatre and we sat down. The nurse distracted him with bubbles while the anaesthetists started to find a vein to insert the tube for the anaesthetic to be fed. His hands were too chubby and they failed. So they decided to have him breathe in the anaesthetic. A few breathes and Ryan was knocked out. I was then ushered out of the room. What seemed like the longest wait I had to go through began. The operation was supposed to take only 10 mins as it was a simple procedure. However I waited for 30 minutes. Each time the door to the operation theatre opened, my heart skipped a bit. No smiles from the staff walking in and out. That looked ominous to me. I prayed and asked for God to protect my son.
After what seemed like eternity, the door opened and I heard my baby's cry. Ryan was already awake and looking for me! I ran to him and carried him up. The crying stopped immediately. They told me that he was fine and I could bring him up to the ward. I brought him up to the ward and he looked very dazed. He fell asleep soon. Throughout the morning he drifted in and out of sleep for his medicine and milk. His temperature had gone back to normal once the abscess was removed. That was a relief. By the afternoon he was more active. Although he refused porridge he took milk.
After his first poop, the nurses showed me how to clean his wound and my knees went weak. They removed his dressing and pulled out a woolly thread which was inserted through the fistula. That hurt like hell and Ryan wailed as loudly as his lungs allowed. The worst is yet to come. The nurse parted his wound and stuck a syringe into the opening and injected saline inside for cleansing. That brought on another string of wails from Ryan. I was informed that I had to do this for him each time he pooped until the wound closes by itself. I was a little dazed after that. Apparently they need to make sure that I could clean the wound independently before they discharge him.That night, he had major pains in his gums because he was teething. I carried him for at least 2 hours, trying to make him go to sleep while he wailed non-stop. After almost 3 hours, he started to fall asleep out of exhaustion but was still grumbling about the pain. I asked the staff nurse for help. She gave him some gel to apply on his gums and my baby slept like an angel. I was exhausted. It is no easy feat to carry a 10kg baby and rock him for 2 hours. I could almost feel my biceps and triceps developing! It was such a relief to lie down on the makeshift bed. I couldn't move. Fortunately the staff nurse was very kind and when Ryan started grumbling again at 2am she carried him out and applied the gel on his gums again. Then he fell asleep quite fast. I was too tired to move. Thank God for the angel he sent.
The next morning Ryan was back to his active and cheeky self. Then he pooped. Here goes nothing, I told myself. So I was pretty gungho about it. Told the nurse that I needed someone to help me wash his wound. I just did it and ignored his piteous wails during the process. It's for his own good, it's for his own good, I repeated to myself. Ok, I was exaggerating. Someone's got to do it so I better take up the job. I don't think my hubby will have the time to do it. My maid will probably tremble - she can't stand the sight of blood so I think she might not take to this easily. Ryan seemed to think that I needed the practice and pooped twice more before discharge time!
Fortunately the doctors did their rounds and certified him ready to be discharged. We happily brought him home along with 2 courses of antibiotics, a bottle of paracetamol and 24 tubes of saline.
Xavier, the eldest, saw me washing the wound and said "Let me help you hold him". He said that it must be very painful. Keane simply went "OH NO!" and scuttled away before anyone could try something similar on him.
Children are indeed extremely resilient creatures. Ryan would stop wailing immediately after the cleansing and cling on to me for dear life, sobbing a little. After 5 minutes, he would be back to his usual self.
Thank God everything went smoothly and my baby was safe.
Quote for the week:
Bravery comes in many forms......survival is one of them.
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