Oscar recently had his first trip to Sydney, but it was not under the circumstances that any one would wish.
On the morning of Friday 25th June Gina and I was not well as he lethargic and passing blood. At 8am we took him to Orange base hospital were it was quickly established that something was wrong with our little boy. The doctors did there best to locate a vein to insert a canular needle but had no success. A scene Gina and I will never forget is holding down Ozzy as four doctors working on one limb each continually try to find a vein. Eventually one of the paediatric doctors successfully inserted a canular needle in Ozzys foot and a drip was established. Ozzy then had an x-ray of this tummy and it was quickly established that he had intussusceptions – a condition where the one part of the intestine slides into the next part. When this occurs it creates an obstruction in the bowel. We where then notified that Oscar will need to go to Westmead Children’s hospital, Sydney. A helicopter was arranged and I rushed home to pack whatever i could think of in a mad rush. Around 3pm the Telstra Child Care chopper departed from Sydney caring Oscar and Gina. I began the three and a half hour journey busily calling our parents, sister and my work to give them updates.
Around 7:30pm the surgeons undertook the first of two air enemas in an attempt to force out the obstruction. This was patially successful. At 12:30am (Saturday Moning) the decision was made that poor little Ozzy required surgery. At 1:30am surgery commenced with a very concerted Steven and Gina waiting in an eerily empty hospital. Around 2:15am the surgeon let Gina and I all was well and the surgery was very successful. It was not until 3am that Oscar was moved from surgery theatre to the surgery ward, were we joined four other children, with a parent sleeping beside each. The friendly staff had arranged a room so one of us can sleep in a relative quite place, while the other lay on a single fold out sofa at Ozzy’s bed side.
Poor little Ozzy had a catheter, drip and various monitors hanging off him. After a few days, he slowly returned to milk and began to recover. Oscar was visited by Tante Annelie, Aunty Gina and Uncle Michael and he received lovely flowers from Grandfather, Granny and Aunty Sooshie as well as from the NSW Department of Industry and Investment.
Now, a week after his operation it is remarkable how quickly young children heal and recover, you would not even know that he had this life threatening emergency.
All of the Doctors and Nurses from the Orange Base Hospital, Westmead Childrens Hospital and the Telstra Care Fight crew were excellent and show that Australia does have one of the best health systems in the world.
You can read more about Intussusception here:
http://kidshealth.org/parent/system/surgical/intussusception.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intussusception_(medical_disorder)