Home on the Ocean Ward

The night before Georgia's surgery had been booked, a tiny baby was admitted to the Ocean Ward.  This tiny little mite was so ill that they had put an oxygen tent over her head to keep her sats up.  She needed immediate surgery and it was going to be quite complex.  The surgeons decided it was crucial for her to have surgery the next day and so moved our surgery to a different day.

I was pleased in a way.  They obviously thought Georgia was not too much at risk. On the other hand, I just wanted to get it over with.  Her surgery was then booked for the following Wednesday. 
So another week on the Ocean Ward. We became good friends with the nurses, doctors and other parents.  There was a couple who were also staying in Heartbeat House with us who we got on well with.  It was great for Rob as the World Cup was on and he had someone to disappear with to the parents room to watch it, without feeling too guilty!

I have said before that heart children do often look well, most of the time you wouldn't realise there was anything wrong at all.  This was proved wrong for us though when we met a couple who had twins.  One twin had a heart defect and the other was fine.  These little girls were 5 years old and the difference between them was amazing.  They were identical but to look at them you would have thought one was a couple of years older than the other.  The 'Heart' twin was so tiny and fragile compared to her boisterous sister!  Perhaps that may have been the difference in their personalities as well, I don't know really.

The Ocean Ward has such a peaceful aura to it.  Even though at any given time every bed space is full, it still seems quiet and serene.  When I was allowed to take Georgia off her monitors to walk around we were often nearly run down in the corridors by children in little cars zooming about everywhere!  The play specialists they have there are great.  These children have faced the worst but are still all smiling and giggling with the staff.  I remember one doctor had a little girl on his lap, she had obviously just had surgery as they were not picking her up under the arms, he was using his mobile to ring the desk phone as every time it rang she went purple with laughter! These small things make it so much easier to live on the ward.
When an emergency happened it affected us all.  You become so involved in everyone around you when you are in that sort of environment, I think I mainly did that so I didn't have to focus on our situation too much!

One day there was a 'red light' situation.  As soon as the alarm sounded nurses came running from every room and doctors from every station, they surrounded the cot for what seemed like an eternity then moved the child back to intensive care where they could be monitored more closely.  It took nearly half an hour for, not only the patients, but the nurses and doctors to go back to the normal routine.  It was so shocking and unexpected for us that we were stunned at how they just took it in their stride and remained calm.  Again, they then made us feel better and became the support we needed.  How do the Nurses manage to be so supportive and upbeat after all they see and do?  I could never imagine the pressure they feel.

I wrote in one of my earlier blogs about me being judgemental when I really didn't know the facts and on the Ocean Ward I was guilty of this, we were always there and couldn't understand how the parents of the other babies were not there constantly.  I understand now, it is a hard environment to be in and especially when your baby has been there for months!  I would like to publicly apologise to all parents that I judged, even though I never judged to your face because I am a coward!

The following Tuesday we were told that Georgia's heart surgery had been moved to Friday.  Frustrating is not the word!  I was devastated.  Plus I had been washing Georgi in her MRSA gel for over 2 weeks now, she was more than ready for surgery!  So you can imagine on the Thursday evening I was just waiting for someone to come and tell me her surgery had been cancelled again, the anaesthetist came and told us all the risks and got us to sign the consent forms.  Even when we went back to Heartbeat House later that night I was still waiting for the phone call for cancellation.  I fell asleep not worrying, I thought that it wouldn't happen as it had been cancelled so much before.

At 6am the ward called me to say they were taking her to theatre at 9am.  Have you ever had that feeling when you are climbing the stairs and you miss a step, that lurching fear in your stomach?  That's what it felt like.