It is May and all three of my children have now spent time as inpatients in the local childrens ward this year, yes this year!  Chloe for breaking her ankle, Erin for grommets and now Dylan due to his hayfever and the infection it causes.  I only commented last week how we had a busy week with upcoming hospital visits and that was before Dyl threw his hat into the mix!

Friends joke that I should get a discount in the coffee shop. The nurses know my name. Only today one of Erin’s favourite health care assistants asked Dylan if he wanted lunch and looked to me, then said in a surprised tone, this is the third child! How is Erin?

It leaves me exasperated, what is it about my kids? My friends seem to avoid hospital stays and yet all three of mine are currently regular visitors. 

Dylan has allergies, as a baby he had bad eczema and had a dairy free diet which controlled it. Now he eats what he wants and hayfever is the only allergy he has. April is usually Dylan’s worst month, the tree pollen and first grass cuts are his nemesis.  Wednesday morning he awoke with tiny little bumps under his eye.  I know what these mean, I know the course they run.  After school I took Dyl to the surgery, we had no appointment but they also know that this has hospitalised Dyl twice already.  I thought we had caught it quick enough.  Yet Thursday saw no signs of improvement and by Friday the blisters were becoming infected.  I took him back to the surgery hedging my bets as to where we would end up next.  I was right and not surprised when the GP said Dylan needed to be seen by the paeds team.  Knowing the drill we went prepared we nipped home grabbed the iPad, DS, snacks and magazines before heading back.  I dropped Erin with a friend and headed to hospital. Initially the GP was concerned that the blisters looked viral more than bacterial, he suspected shingles.  As I said Dylan only gets this at this time of year but the doctors and peads don’t have a textbook answer that links this infection with hayfever.  Dyl has been on IV antibiotics for four days now and we are starting to see signs of improvement.  However no one is entirely sure what causes this.  It has been suggested that it is due to the MRSA he had as toddler (that was never actually confirmed as MRSA as they couldn’t admit that  – as he had just had an operation in the hospital – rather they have always called it a staphylococcal infection).  As this has reoccured he will now being a specialist – hopefully an eye specialist tomorrow. 

In the meantime I am yet again drinking hospital coffee and watching the clock.  This week will yet again be busy and dominated with appointments.  Erin is seeing the rheumatologist on Wednesday and we shall see what the consultant says for Dyl tomorrow.

The hospital appointments are once again stacking up making me feel nervous and twitchy.  Erin seems to be doing well at the moment,  she is enjoying the little bit of sunshine we have had and loves playing on her new Ebay bargain. In two months time we will have the next set of Xrays that tell us whether we are continuing to beat DDH. I am fearful that there will be another set back.  I don’t think I’ll ever get over the deep knot of fear I have about her mobility and hip.  I am not happy about how she stands and distinguishing between DDH and the hypermobility issues is very difficult. Next week Erin has blood tests and an appointment with a pead rheumatologist about her joint pain and general tiredness. It is all part of the diagnosis process we are going through. The physio has said that Erin has joint hypermobility syndrome the syndrome is different to hypermobility. It becomes the syndrome when the lax joints cause pain and such forth. Most children are hypermobile to an extent and it is a long drawn out process to get a full diagnosis even when symptomatic. Jenny a fellow blogger has written an excellent post describing and explaining the syndrome, I would encourage you to read it here and just see what we are likely to be facing although Jenny’s brave children have atypical EDS.

The never ending hospital appointments do take their toll and Erin recalled this on Sunday. When in sunday school she was asked what scares her and her reply was the doctor and his gas mask. That is hard to hear from a child that has already been under a general aneasthtic seven times.

In order to see the consultant next week she needs some blood tests first and this is something else that Erin does like anymore. She is never easy to take blood from or get a cannula in as her hands are chunky and the veins like to hide!  But they want to rule out some other things as part of the eventual diagnosis.

In additional to Erin, Chloe also has physio this week.  Her ankle seems to be getting stronger but she regularly over does it and spends the next day limping but it is so hard for her to avoid the sports she loves so much!  My way of coping with all this is typically shopping and I now have found another favourite shop no 21 which has a gorgeous tweed skirt I need in my life!

Hospital visits have become so routine for us but the anxiety and nerves still eat me up.  I don’t really know what I want the rheumatologist to say next week as I don’t want the diagnosis yet I want Erin to start receiving the treatment she needs.  She has a year until she is preparing to start school and I want her to start with everything in place. 

I do love a bargain as I have shared in previous posts and this past week I have found a great one!  Due to DDH, Erin’s mobility is behind her peers and one area we are working on is building the strength in her legs. She is still very weak but loves the slides in the local parks. However the steps to the slide are often to thin for her confidence, she needs to use her arms to support her and so needs good rails and a queue behind you never helps the nervousness!

I had been pricing up the Little Tikes slides as I knew they are sturdy.  I am a bit of a fair weather Ebay fan these days as it seems the fees and postage costs have made it less profitable when selling and so I don’t use it as much as a few years ago.  However I took a peek to see if there were any slides going local.  There was and I patiently had to sit out the auction but was desperate to buy it!

Thankfully I was the highest bidder and paid just £30 for the little tikes giant slide which costs just over £100 brand new.  When we collected it ( I say we, obviously I sent the husband on the errand complete with sat nav as it was in the middle of the sticks!) we could see that it was in fab condition.  There is no sun fade on the slide and no scuffed bits.  Erin is over the moon with her new slide and already she is climbing more than she does in the local parks.

In addition to slides great post spica and ddh activities include using a scooter.  Also buying at this price means when I sell it on in a year or so I will probabaly get most of my money back..  Now that is my kind of bargain!

I have linked this post up to Magpie Monday.

Buying shoes for many parents is a chore.  Good shoes are often one of the biggest expenses for children and it is so important that shoes fit correctly.  I am now one of the biggest advocates of getting the right size shoes for young growing feet.  Due to Erin’s DDH I waited and waited to buy Erin her first pair of proper shoes.  She was almost two and half before she needed walkers.  She mostly wears Kickers as they give her the support she needs but now that she plays hockey and the sun is shining I decided to buy her a pair of trainers.

I went to clarks as she needs to be fitted both for length but also for width. Erin still has really dinky feet so much smaller than all her peers but I’m not sure if that is related to ddh and foot growth or if she just has dinky feet. At age 31/2 she is only a size six! This week saw me getting her the trainers. I let her choose and she choose this pretty pair.

Watching Erin try on shoes still gets me and I don’t think I’ll ever be concerned about how much I spend on shoes for her!

She is loving the design and couldn’t wait to wear them to nursery. Erin seems to be following me by choosing white.  The first thing my husband commented on was that they would be dirty and scuffed in time.  He is probably right on the scuffed front considering how much she falls over but us girls have to make sacrifices and I love Erin in the colours cream and white.

So please do share what you have been buying or reviewing this week.  Grab the badge if you choose, it is in the sidebar.