Parting ways

As we were parked in the hospital entrance, we frantically moved stuff around in bags and backpacks, gave a quick good-bye to everyone, and then off we went.  Chris dropped Shannon and I off at the hospital while he continued on to Florida with the three other kids. 

I'm not going to go into too much detail about the hospital stay other than to say:

1. I don't ever, EVER recommend watching your child have an IV put in.  Let alone having it done twice because the first time the vein buckled and it didn't work.
2. Allergic reactions to medications are scary, especially when your child has to be force-fed Benadryl because she refuses to swallow it because it tastes like Big Red gum.
3. The nursing staff and Doctors at the hospital were fabulous.  Everyone knew how disappointed we were to miss our flight, so they made it their mission to get Shannon healthy as quickly as possible so she could still go visit the Princesses.
4. I was absolutely, completely and utterly overwhelmed by the love and support of our family and friends.  They visited, they brought us food, colouring books and toys so Shannon wouldn't be bored, they brought coffee..... and most importantly they brought comfort, compassion, and shoulders to cry on when I was at my wits end.  I simply can't say thank you enough.

 Through it all, Shannon was a trooper.  Here she is in her hospital bed once they finally got the IV in:

 

 
 There is the culprit; a hang-nail that got infected, and the infection traveled into the blood stream:

The hospital has a program through the local Optimists clubs, whereby any child who stays overnight at the hospital gets a pillowcase that they get to take home with them.  Naturally, Shannon chose a Cinderella pillowcase, and she even got her picture taken for the Hospital's newsletter.  Poor thing was trying her best to put on a happy face while the pictures were being taken:

Meanwhile, Chris soldiered on with the rest of the gang to Florida.  They arrived well enough, but poor Chris was so stressed out by everything that he developed a migraine.  Then the 90+ degree Florida heat hit him and he started throwing up.  It was about 8:30 at night and I was talking to him on the phone and he said:

"I'm puking, and I have such a bad migraine that I can barely open my eyes.".

Nothing like being a thousand miles away and feeling totally helpless.

I immediately said: "Put Aidan on the phone."

Aidan comes on the phone and cheerfully says: "Don't worry mummy, I'm just putting the kids in bed, but I can't find this, and I'm not sure how to do that."

I talked him through everything and he said: "It's OK Mom, I've got everything under control."

God-bless the helpful 10 year old.