Harry had surgery today at Hinchingbrooke hospital where they removed two of his secondary teeth and filled another. It was around 1am last night when my nerves cut in and I sketched him sleeping peacefully in my journal. I then marked the page with various circles that would represent the uncontrollable cogs of the following morning, the small circles depicting the steam they would create, the stress of the day ahead.
Another reason to be anxious today was that my eldest Son Jake was to stay at a friends (quite a rare occurrence for our family) and visit London for a rugby match the following morning, after which he was to go on to Twickenham to watch a match before making his way home via train to stay, once again, at a friend's house before returning home Friday. It was around 3pm when I got his text message to say his friend had cancelled due to ill health and that he would be home when we returned. I was genuinely disappointed for him but it is always comforting to have my boys home.
The staff at Hinchingbrooke are amazing, I really can not speak highly enough of them. The children's ward has so many fabulous aspects including two sit on battery operated vehicles for the children to DRIVE down to theatre. We arrived at around 10am and, while we waited for surgery to take place at around 3pm I made a sketch of one of the electronic beds on the ward because Harry loved controlling his up, down, up, down... and a sketch of the canteen where I managed to grab a latte early afternoon.
I can't explain the relief I felt when we got the call to head down to recovery, Harry was safe and I could relax. I don't mind admitting that we actually broke into a sprint half way down that corridor.
My Son is amazing!
He recovered so quickly and in less than an hour after coming around, he had demolished 4 cups of water, been to the toilet and eaten a ham sandwich followed by a yoghurt...We could go home!
A phone call to our local Chinese take-away and before long we were home, watching Harry tuck into a chicken curry like nothing had happened.
The stress has now been replaced with fatigue, my boys are tucked up in their beds and I am relieved, content and knackered.
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10 comments:
Beautiful post Anita! I can understand how anxious you must have been. Love the cirles idea, lovely illustration!
That's the first time I've heard of chicken curry as a post-op meal! Good on you Harry! Good on your Mum too. Such an imaginative way to journal the day.
Excellent composition on this page, and I'm glad everyone is feeling more at ease.
lovely drawings! I had to comment because I had my first two children there, drove all the way from Hertfordshire because a) it had a birthing pool and b) it had such a good reputation.
beautiful drawing - and your post as well. the way you talk about your boys - the love you have for them - is wonderful to see/hear.
love the circles idea -- ties in w/ the completeness of life and the complexities of family and how it's all tied/connected together. amazing how so many things hinge on one another and yet are separate events. great drawing and definitely a great way to remember that day and those emotions.
What a beautiful and creative design!
As a mother I can relate to all of this, lovely post and now just a tense memory with good results!
I love the circles and the thought process....great sketch, Anita. I'm also glad to hear that everything went well with Harry's surgery. I know exactly how you felt ~ :)
Love the circles as a way of arranging your thoughts/feelings visually on the paper. Glad your son is fine and all went well!!
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