Meningitis Day 6 - Explaining it to the children

We did think we'd be getting the full Lumbar Puncture results today, *sigh*. We WILL definitely be getting them tomorrow afternoon. We've been promised. I don't think I want to leave the Hospital tomorrow without them, although I'm not certain they'll tell us anything we don't already know from the first set of results, it's just become a thing we've waited for since Thursday morning..

After the lovely and incredibly informative comment on my blog post yesterday from Elizabeth I've felt a lot more calm about my partner's slight backwards step. I know that the Doctors warned us this would happen, and I do trust them mainly, but to get a message from someone who has been through it and come out the other side was really comforting.


He's doing really well. He's still not as happy as he was when he first came out of hospital because his back is very sore from the Lumbar Puncture and his legs are both very achy, plus the slicing pain in his right leg and the fact that the excitement about being allowed out has worn off, but he's doing well.

We've tried to explain as much as they wish to all the teenagers, but they can all use Google and I'm sure they've read some awful tales. They have all relaxed a lot, and no-one is walking about looking worried any more, they're all much more confident that he's going to be okay.As we've relaxed, so have they, it's a good thing. The little ones also know what's happened, and what needs to happen, but in language they can understand, I hope we did the right thing and they seem calm enough about it all - The good guys in Daddy's blood aren't strong enough to fight off the bad guys that got in, so he needs the Doctors to give him some more extra strong good guys that know just how to beat those bad guys. The bad guys and the fighting has made bumps and bruises inside Daddy's head, and until they get better he's going to have a poorly headache and needs you to be quiet and not squeal on the landing outside his bedroom (please!). They're more bothered about the tiny holes in his arms....he needed plasters and everything!

He can stay awake for about 3 hours now without suffering later, and noise isn't bothering him so much, which is making it a lot easier with 2 pre-schoolers and a couple of especially noisy teenagers, and it's also making it easier for him to nap. He has always been able to sleep anywhere at any time, but at the moment he's hypersensitive and things like the light from my mobile phone or our eldest having barely audible music playing when we've gone to bed are disturbing him.

Sometimes it's easy to forget that he's even ill, and then something happens and you remember. He moves and winces, or he slurs his words, or he'll suddenly be too tired and will have to go to sleep right then. He is being an excellent patient though. As long as I keep him well-stocked with fruit pastilles and water, and he hasn't lost the TV remote somewhere under the duvet, he isn't complaining at all.