The joys of winter!

William's temperature went up to 37.8 at playschool this morning. I called his gastro nurse who requested bloods when he came off TPN at two. Last time we had a day like this, with high temperatures but not quite high enough to hit the panic button, we ended up sending him into septic shock when we restarted his TPN in the evening, pushing all the nasty little bugs into his system. I just can't take that kind of risk again so we had arranged to take him to the local hospital to put his TPN up whenever there is any doubt that he may have a line infection. With a child like Wills, you have to presume a line infection whenever he spikes a fever over 38. So, at 37.8, we are pretty close!

I called the community nurses to arrange everything but they are pretty overworked today with one of them home with their own poorly child. Oh, the joys of winter! Sick children and a struggling NHS. It is so stressful when a bad day for Wills can result in a situation where his life is in danger. Of course, the staff to their best, but it is very disconcerting when your security net falls apart, right when you need it. The ward are full and not overly happy about us coming in tonight. I told her that I am just not prepared to do the TPN at home today. So, we will take him up to the ward and, if he gets very sick, the crash team will be called and he will be stabilised and sent to the nearest bed. He is coughing and wheezing so I hope that is all it is.

So, we wait again, to see what his bloods show, to see if he goes into sepsis or if this is just a winter virus. In the meantime, I will get the girls from school, tidy the house and make some contingency plans. There will be lots more days like this before the Spring.