On crunches

Sharon is now "on crunches" as Angus would say, following her foot operation on Wednesday. It was a filthy morning as she rose early and drove across to Clydebank through heavy rain, wind and spray, getting to the Golden Jubilee Hospital before 0730.

I took the day off and got the boys dressed and fed and off to school and nursery before bussing into Haymarket. From there I took a new (to me) train route: through Livingston North and Bathgate and on to Airdrie and the low-level line under Glasgow Queen St. It was a straight-through train to Helensburgh so I was able to go all the way to Dalmuir. As soon as I got off, the hail came on so I had a miserable walk to the hospital in heavy rain and wind. I arrived drookit!

Sharon was pleasantly relaxed after a rare morning of dozing and reading and relaxing but I wasn't there long before she was taken away to theatre. I went down to the canteen for a lunch and laze about, reading and napping, while she went under the knife.

Those of squeamish disposition can skip this paragraph! Sharon's bunion op, on her left foot, was a four-part affair. First they made a vertical z-cut through the big toe joint to allow them to swivel the toe. Next they shaved the bone off the side then they cut a wedge out the bone so that they could straighten the big toe. Finally they cut between the metatarsals to remove excess tissue. Apparently she had the strongest bone the surgeon had come across, which of course pleased the competitive nature in Sharon.

Sharon was under general anaesthetic but was fully awake by the time I saw her again, albeit with a heavily bandaged foot and a big shoe. There was more waiting about as the physio came to give Sharon her "crunches" and advise on how they wanted her to walk so as to put a little pressure on the foot (it helps the bone knit) and how to put her foot up.

Finally, after dinner, we were able to go. I wheeled Sharon down to the entrance and she made slow progess out to the car. On arrival she was greeted by Sean and Finn who were delighted to see her, even though they ought to have been in bed. Her first night's sleep wasn't great as the effects of the anaesthetic lingered and the painkillers wore off, but the deed is now done and the recovery has begun. How long Sharon can keep her frustration at sitting down for long periods under control remains to be seen!

Hospital visit

I had a trip to the hospital yesterday to check out my innards. I went to the doctor late last year as I felt the benefits of the gluten-free diet had worn off and there were a number of symptoms similar to what I used to experience before being diagnosed with coeliac disease. My self-diagnosis from internet searches suggested a yeast overgrowth to me but trying to cut out yeast and sugar-containing foods and alcohol (as the yeast feeds on these) is a serious challenge. It makes eating gluten-free look like a breeze. Anyway, the doctor referred me to the gastroentorology department and after much nonsense with delayed letters and waiting list hokey-cokey I got an appointment at short notice.

Sharon dropped me off and I had a fairly unexciting afternoon hanging around various waiting and recovery rooms. I was sedated for the procedure. I wasn't particularly aware of feeling sedated but, looking back, I was able to respond to directions but wasn't in any great discomfort. I enjoyed the gluten-free toast they provided me with afterwards, having not eaten anything solid for about 36 hours.

Sharon picked me up as there was a risk I could feel woozy, having been under sedation, so I wasn't allowed to drive home. Did they find anything? I'll find out in a few weeks. I have to say I felt better following this procedure which probably had as much to do with the cleansing effect of the near-fasting and Piccolax preparation as anything else.

No more spot of bother

Monday was the day of reckoning for Rowan's "spot" which has been an ever present on his chin since the early part of last year. It was identified as a pilomatrixoma ("a benign appendageal tumor") earlier this year and today I took him along to the Sick Kids Hospital to have it removed. We had to leave the house early, parked the car at Greenbank and caught a No. 5 bus to Marchmont. Rowan was able to spot the 5 on the bus and enjoyed the novelty of sitting next to me looking out the window. We walked (well I carried Rowan most of the way) down to the RHSC to get there for 0800. Once up to the ward, Rowan was weighed and made a beeline for the toys at the end of the ward. he wasn't too happy about having to get his jammies on and less happy about the cream that went on the back of his hands but was soon back at the toys as a variety of nurses, anaesthetists and surgeons milled about, inspecting their patients for the day.

Fortunately Rowan was up first so he hopped on his bed and was wheeled down to the surgery. I picked out Dinosaur Roar then we went into pre-theatre where he got a jab in the back of the hand, while I read to him and used the book as a screen, despite him being aware that someone was doing something to his hand and trying to see past the book. He fell asleep very quickly and I was ushered out as he was whisked away into theatre. It's never great seeing one of your children disappear off like that, especially knowing there is always a small element of risk in them going under a general anaesthetic, but you can only trust the doctors to do their job.

I went out and strolled along to Victor Hugo's for a cup of tea while Rowan went under the knife. It's a great neighbourhood delicatessen, reminiscent of the sorts of places that are common in European cities but all too rare in Edinburgh. I was able to while away a contented half hour looking north across the Meadows before wandering back to the RHSC.

Rowan arrived back just after 1000, groggy and irritable, though no more so than he is normally is at the moment if he's had a nap. He took ten minutes or so to settle before falling asleep and then woke again about thirty minutes later keen to have a drink then a yoghurt then some toast and jam. He had a dressing on his chin which quickly became covered in crumbs and jam so it had to be removed revealing the surprisingly long curved scar with six dissolving stitches. Evidently they had to make about an inch long incision to cut out the pilomatrixoma. Hopefully the scar will heal well, though there is a risk of it remaining pink coloured, something which can happen with chin and shoulder scars. The natural curve of the chin should disguise any line as he grows older.

Rowan was trying to pull away the dressing and the plaster that replaced it as it was difficult not to have it sticking to his lower lip. He seemed nonplussed when presented with a mirror to show him the result of "Dr. Spot's" handiwork and was more interested in getting back to watch Cars on the portable DVD player. Eventually he was discharged around 1230 and Sharon came to collect us. He was pleased to see her and gave her a big wave. Of all the boys, he's spent the most time in RHSC, and is the third to have gone under general anaesthetic, something I've managed to avoid till now. I was called into work that afternoon so had to shelve any plans to give Rowan any special treatment, but he did seem content with some Green & Black's white chocolate!

The jinx of Edel?

The last time Edel came to visit, within an hour of her arrival, Sharon felt terrible and ended up in hospital with mastitis. Last Thursday, there seemed to be an eerie coincidence as, once again, Sharon started to feel poorly soon after Edel had arrived. "Feeling poorly" was an understatement on the Friday morning as Sharon awoke feverish with vomiting annd muscle spasms. Things went from bad to worse on arrival at the doctor's surgery with Sharon passing out and an ambulance having to be called to take her to the New Royal Infirmary. Poor Wendy, who had accompanied her to the doctor, got quite a fright.

From that point on, over the next few days, it felt like we were in an episode of House as Sharon was subjected to a CT scan and various blood tests. Some potentially nasty causes were ruled out and she was treated for swine flu for a while, but the doctor eventually decided she'd had an extreme reaction to a urinary tract infection caused by e-coli bacteria. Her temprature stabilised on the Sunday morning and she was discharged at lunchtime today but she is still feeling rather fragile.

Edel flew home just as Sharon was getting out of hospital. Marie is flying in tomorrow morning as cover so that I can go back to work.

There and back again

Alas, after a week in which Sharon looked like she was recovering well after the birth of Angus, infection struck. Edel was barely delivered from the airport on Friday when Sharon started to get the shakes and feel rather ill. A post-midnight visit to the NRIE confirmed she had mastitis as we feared and, on Saturday, following a turbulent night and then a visit from the midwife, we retraced our steps of the previous weekend, returning to St. John's Hospital in Livingston.

Sharon and Angus were admitted and antibiotics were administered. Her temperature stabilised in the early hours of Sunday morning and the mastitis eased over the course of Sunday but of more concern was the tenderness and sharp pains in her stomach. The doctors believe it is an infection so she has been dosed with more antibiotics and was discharged from hospital on Monday evening.

The only bother to Angus is that he seems to be a hungry boy and Sharon isn't sure she'll be able to keep up with him. Maybe he's just having his first growth spurt or he's hungry having dropped about 450g in weight since birth (up to 10% is perfectly acceptable, especially for a big nipper like him), but he's having to be topped up with formula at the moment. The fabled "teat confusion" has never been a problem with our lads: so long as they're fed they don't care what form it comes in. That fussiness only starts when they're older!

It's good to have Sharon and Angus home again. Here's hoping we have seen the back of St. John's this time.

Needless to say, the boys were thrilled by Edel's brief visit; playing games, drawing pictures, making disguises and so on. All the things parents just don't have the time for, sadly. There was a lot of thunder and lightning on Sunday and torrential rain which made the drive to Livingston to see Sharon and Angus interesting!

Angus arrives home

After three nights keeping his Mammy company in the hospital, Angus decided it was time he came home to meet the rest of the family and to see if the promises of a palatial crib with a view of the Pentland Hills and an unlimited milk bar were true. He's been as cranky as you'd expect a days-old baby to be, especially a big bouncer like Angus who's worried about where his next square feed is coming from. And, like his brothers were before him, he's no fan of getting his nappy changed. He likes warmth and a good cuddle and, with the aid of a formula top-up the last couple of nights, he's slept reasonably well in patches. Tonight will be the test though, as he moves in with his Mammy and Daddy.

I took Sean out to see Angus and Sharon yesterday and Finn got the prime job of being the big brother to escort home the newest Wallace boy, sitting beside a sleeping Angus on the drive home. Rowan's role was chief welcomer, which he did very well, as can be seen in the video. Sean was at school when Angus arrived home but was delighted when his Mammy came to pick him up as that meant she was home. All the boys have been missing their Mammy, who seems to be doing well following a rather traumatic birth. The SPD has eased off and hopefully the crutches can be returned soon. I'd postpone her can-can comeback for a few months yet.

Finn the Fish earned his final Beginner stickers today at swimming and now gets to wear a yellow hat, as he is now officially a Learner. Well done to the Wallace powerhouse of the pool!

Angus Ian Wallace

We have our fourth boy, Angus Ian Wallace, delivered in a hurry at St. John's Hospital in Livingston last night at 2140, some fifteen minutes after we arrived at the car park. For a few minutes it was touch and go as to whether he would be christened the Car Park Kid as Sharon looked like she wasn't going to make it from the car to the ward but a chair arrived and she was wheeled in, kneeling like Boadacea on a chariot. Things happened rather quickly and a large baby put in an appearance shortly afterwards.

We were debating his name at first but Angus was what we had decided beforehand and now that the shock of his quick arrival has worn off, Angus Ian Wallace is what we're sticking with. His name may have been debated but his size is not in question: 5040g or a whopping 11lbs 2.5 oz! His hair is dark, with perhaps an auburn tinge Sharon thought, as she went up to the post-natal ward just as dawn was breaking. He was quite a placid wee lad for the first couple of hours but he has been coughing a bit trying to bring up mucus since then. He doesn't really look like any of his brothers and has maybe missed out on the dimples but he seems to like sucking his fingers!

Here are some early photos of Angus. His brothers and Nana are very excited and can't wait to see him.

The writer

Sean was at Ross's house for a sleepover last Saturday. In the course of that stay, they made several "books" (Ross's uncle is a publisher, apparently, which must have inspired them) consisting of pages of paper stapled together. No content, just pages, and, in Sean's case, numbered with a contents page listing twelve or so chapters. On returning home he began writing a story which I hope to transcribe here. It may lack some structure and be a trifle repetitive in its device of Sean and his friends being attacked by thousands of baddies but it apparently had his classmates enthralled when Mrs Cameron-Mackintosh read the first instalment to them earlier in the week. Sean didn't tell us this; she did. He's finished the story now, so he is going to take it back into class so they can hear the second and final instalment.

It really is a very good effort by him and whilst his spelling could do with a little more thought it shows that he is starting to be influenced by his reading. Not to mention The Incredibles and Zoom, another superhero movie they've watched on telly. Both him and Finn got their first little stickers of the term at swimming on Monday.

Rowan was at the dermatologist today. His spot is not a cyst but a lump of hard tissue (Sharon will have to supply the medical name for it) which may go away in a few years or which may require plastic surgery to remove. I've been air-brushing it out of some of his photos of late but it won't be that easy to remove in real life. All the boys were very good at the hospital: at one point Sean and Finn had Rowan up on the couch and were "listening to the baby's heart" in Rowan's tummy. This was a spin-off from Finn and Rowan accompanying Sharon to her midwife's appointment earlier in the week. All is fine there; even Rowan got a chance to hear the baby's heartbeat.

I got out on Sunday night, heading round to the Pavilion for a drink with Iain Valentine. It was good to get out especially as Rowan and Finn had been at each other the whole weekend, it seemed, which was less than enjoyable. I took the boys into town on Saturday to the joke shop in Victoria St. (Finn was amused by the poos and bought a whoopee cushion) and across to Mr. Woods' Fossils which had Sean and Finn enthralled, looking at the fossilised dinosaur and shark teeth, fossils and polished stones. They bought a few stones each and Sean bought a fossil.

Under the knife

I was at St. John's today for a minor operation to remove a wart from my upper lip, something I've had for almost twenty years, I reckon, but which has started to overgrow this year. The operation went very smoothly. There was a bit of hanging around, as expected, before I donned my gown and was wheeled down to theatre. You feel a bit of a fraud getting manoeuvred round the corridors and into the lift, but I suppose that if anything were to happen in the theatre then you're as well in the bed!

The most painful part was the injection of the local anaesthetic into my top lip. That fairly made my eyes water! There are better things to be doing of a Friday morning! Mr. Bahia was the surgeon who did the cutting and stitching. I had damp gauze over my eyes as the light was shining full in my face so I didn't see him advance with the scalpel which was probably just as well. I was aware of him working round the lip, but didn't feel a thing. It was over and done with fairly quickly and I was discharged soon after returning to the ward, arriving home about 1130 with a swollen lip, some self-dissolving stitches and a hungry tummy. Fortunately there was no great pain as the anaesthetic wore off and the location of the scar didn't really interfere with my eating! I even made it into work in the afternoon (only because I was busy. I was enjoying the peace in hospital to read my book!)