I’m sitting here in Sydney while my daughter is hospital in London, waiting on surgery. And I don’t even know what for!
This is torture for a mother. My baby (all right, she’s 22 and able to care for herself but do you think that makes a difference to me??), is – perhaps – having surgery and she needs her mum.
I’m no stranger to children and surgery. My middle child had a double hernia operation when she was 9 months old. That was very, very stressful for me. Not for her, she recovered immediately and was jumping up and down in the hospital bed calling for food within a very short time of the operation. She hasn’t changed much – nothing puts her off her food.
She then had an emergency appendectomy when she was about 12, and had her tonsils out at around 17.
So I’ve been there, done that. But the difference with all of those is that I was there with her all the way, even sleeping at the hospital. If I did leave and something happened it wouldn’t take long for me to get back there.
Now I’m 17,000km away and can’t do anything for her.
I can’t even speak with her doctor to find out what’s happening, and she’s been getting conflicting advice.
She went in lunch time Monday with severe stomach pains. They diagnosed appendicitis, and scheduled her as a priority for surgery. It’s now Wednesday night (their time) and she still hasn’t been operated on.
Tuesday lunch time they took her for a scan. The surgeon said the results showed her appendix were ok, but she had ovarian cysts, so there was no rush for surgery.
Wednesday morning she saw a gynaecologist who said to ignore the surgeon. While she did have cysts, the pain was caused by an inflamed appendix.
In the meantime, she is still fasting in case she has to go into surgery.
The latest advice is that she will have surgery tomorrow morning her time (this evening my time). They will do a laparoscopy to check what’s happening and take her appendix out anyway – to save any future problems in case something goes wrong with them in 10 years.
Is it just because I’m her mother I think that’s wrong?????
Fortunately for her she does have family with her. She’s been staying with her aunt and cousins while travelling in the UK and Europe, so she’s not completely alone.
But it’s not like having your mum.
And I want to be with my baby. I need her as much as she needs me!
