Friday, May 10, 2013

The Holiday That Nearly Wasn't

We're back! But we nearly didn't go.
 
About 2 weeks before we were meant to fly to Bali, Indonesia, our youngest Miss 4 (aka Poss) became very ill with a raging fever and difficulty breathing.  We rushed her to our local hospital and  we found out she had the early stages of pneumonia.  It was a scary weekend, Hubby was away working and all I could do was give him updates.  Thankfully I had the support of my inlaws and a good friend to help with Miss 8. 

Of all the weekends for this to happen, this was the one when Miss 8's dancing showcase day was on.  Full hair and make up had to be done for competition photos.  Midway through the showcase I got the call from the inlaws that the home visit doctor wanted Poss taken to emergency so I left Miss 8 in the capable hands of my friend and met the inlaws and Poss at the hospital.

All went well for Poss, the antibiotics and puffers did their job and she recovered quickly.  We kept her off school and away from daycare just in case.

Then 5 days before we were due to fly out, little Poss developed a new cough and couldn't stop.  She struggled to breathe again, we could see she was working far too hard to get the air in, so off to emergency again.

This time she had picked up a new chest infection and the doctor admitted her into hospital. It was then that we asked what was the likelihood of us getting on a plane the following Tuesday.  The doc didn't like to speculate and we could feel our holiday that we all so desperately needed  slipping away.

Our 2 nights in hospital were up and down; Poss refused to take the oxygen mask and nebulisers, she fought so hard it was exhausting for both her and me. She'd no sooner clear some gunk in her chest when it would get lodged somewhere else and her oxygen sats would plummet again.
 
Finally the new antibiotics and steroids started to work and we saw a huge improvement.  She was tired but was breathing so much easier and they let her come home.  A final check up from our GP on the day before we were due to fly gave her the all clear and we were on our way!

We loaded up with all her meds we might need if she got into difficulty while we were away and the address of a reputable clinic in Bali but she never needed even a puffer.  We were very fortunate that she made a full recovery and has been well ever  since.

So that is my tale of woe I guess, over the next few posts I will post about the trip itself. 
Until then... x o