Back out of hospital
To be more accurate, we never made it into hospital with Matthew in the first place. Continuing our rather Kafkaesque experience of the National Health Service, the operation was cancelled. Why? When hospital admissions telephoned last week to offer us the operation this Wednesday, I made the point of warning them that Matthew had just begun a course of antibiotics to offset the effects of a chest infection. Admissions said they would check with a doctor to make sure that was all right, and sure enough they rang back to say it was fine.
Now, this morning, the day we were due to go in, a doctor calls us to ask how Matthew is. Checking through his notes she had seen an entry about his most recent chest infection, and when Mrs Minimus told the doctor that Matthew was only today finishing off the course of antibiotics, well, that was it. Operation off. Do not pass 'Go', do not collect £200. Back to the start.
The really annoying thing is that when I spoke to the doctor and asked her how long a gap has to be left between having a chest infection and it being safe to operate, she told me four weeks. So there was no way that Matthew would ever have been able to have an operation tomorrow, only a week after coming down with a chest infection.
So I can only apologise to all of you for the mistake, although since prayers are not bound by time they will, I hope, come into play when (eventually) Matthew has his operation. (I make it that this is the fourth cancellation, for an operation originally scheduled for November.) In the meantime, Mrs Minimus and I will crawl off somewhere and try to regain our equilibrium.
Goodness, they do a lot of faffing about, our NHS, don't they :-(
Praying for your situation.
God Bless.
Posted by: ukok | April 11, 2006 at 09:20 PM
How maddening. I'll keep you and your family in my prayers.
Posted by: Theocoid | April 12, 2006 at 05:46 PM
Hoo-boy! Well, my prayers for you and Minimus Jr are continuing.
Posted by: The Sheepcat | April 12, 2006 at 11:24 PM
Oh dear! The falings of the NHS. This must be a very trying time for you. I continue to keep young Matthew and all the family in my prayers.
Posted by: Paulinus | April 18, 2006 at 10:14 AM