Tuesday 1st March 2018
"That's quite the chesty cough that you've got there, isn't it." Sam sighed as she patted her 3 year old son on the back whilst he coughed until he could cough no more and had to deeply inhale. Her son had been battling a heavy cold for several days which she and Tom had had to alternate and take off of work because he couldn't go to the crèche when he was ill, plus when Daniel was poorly, he tended to be quite clingy for a couple of days. "Hmm. Maybe you've got a chest infection." Sam said questioningly. She held Daniel against her chest whilst she carried him upstairs to her bedroom where she took her expensive black stethoscope out of her bedside table. She had used it when she was pregnant with him because it was a highly sensitive one to pick up his heartbeat within the womb. Because it had sentimental value, and because it was expensive, Sam had not used it on a regular basis at work; she had her trusty yellow stethoscope to do that.
"What is a chest infect-thingy?" Daniel wheezed.
"It's just a bad cold that you need to see a doctor to make you better." Sam lied as she knew anything more complicated wouldn't be understood by her son. "Just sit still for me." Sam said as she sat her son on her double bed. She put the stethoscope in her ears and then put the chest piece on his back, then his front. "Your lungs sound clear to me- hang on." Sam held the chest piece over his heart and she was sure she had just heard a murmur. And with each thump it came again and again. "We'd better take you to the hospital." Sam said worriedly.
"Tom, Sam's in the staffroom with Daniel and she's asking for you." Fletch stated.
"Er, right. Thanks." Tom nodded confusedly as he jogged through to the staffroom where he found his son hugging his mummy. "Hey, not that I'm glad to see you but why're you here?" Tom asked. "Is his cold getting worse?"
"I've just spoken to Connie and she's gonna come and see Daniel in a minute. I heard a heart murmur." Sam stated worriedly and Tom's heart, ironically, skipped a beat at the news.
"So what seems to be the problem?" Connie asked clinically as she pulled the curtain around a cubicle where little Daniel was sitting upright on the bed and occasionally coughing as he played with his border collie plush toy and both parents stood worriedly overlooking their child.
"Um, he's had a bad cold for the last four days so I used my stethoscope to check for a chest infection and that was clear but I could hear a heart murmur." Sam explained disjointedly.
"I see and has anything like this been picked up at his routine appointments with your doctor?" Connie asked as she put her hand on her stethoscope to warm the chest piece up because she knew children hated a cold chunk of metal being put on their chest and she was always kinder and more sympathetic to children than adults.
"No, nothing at all." Tom stated. As much as he sometimes disliked the woman, she was helping their son when technically Daniel should've been taken to his doctor so he was giving her a break.
"Alright well try not to worry too much. Heat murmurs can be caused by a number of things, or it could just come and go and not cause a problem at all." Connie stated. "It's Daniel isn't it?" Connie smiled at the infant and slowly Daniel nodded. "Okay Daniel, I'm just going to use my stethoscope on you, could you just take nice deep breaths for me I know you're probably not feeling very well but it'll be over before you know it." Connie requested before she placed the chest piece on his chest. She listened intently for a long minute in several places before she stood up properly and allowed Daniel return to playing with his favourite toy.
"Well?"
"There's definitely a heart murmur there. Really, he should be sent through his GP and then to a cardiologist but I suppose working in an ED has it's benefits so I'll perform an ECG on Daniel, and then possibly an ultrasound. Though I will have to admit him here as a patient. He is sounding a little wheezy because of the cold so if someone asks, just say you brought him in because of breathing difficulties. Okay." Connie nodded.
"Thanks." Sam said gratefully as the consultant walked away.
After what seemed like forever which was really only around an hour after Daniel's tests, Connie came back into the cubicle and closed the curtains behind her; it didn't look like the news was going to be good.
"Now you know I don't like to beat about the bush so I'm just going to tell you straight out... Daniel has what's called an atrial septal defect. Have you heard of it before?"
"Yeah, but I don't know a lot." Tom replied.
"My son's got a hole in his heart?" Sam gasped.
"I'm afraid so yes. But you must understand that in most cases, ASDs are diagnosed and treated successfully with few or no complications." Connie stated.
"But that still means he's going to need an operation?"
"Possibly. Now I'll have to refer you to a paediatric cardiologist and it depends on what type of defect it is. But Daniel might need a keyhole operation, or he might need cardiac catheterisation which would only need a small incision in the groin or his arm and no major surgery or - worst case scenario - there is a chance that he may need open heart surgery. Then after his treatment, he'll be on a low dose of aspirin to prevent blood clots for about six months." Connie explained.
"Mummy, I don't understand." Daniel stated in a hoarse voice.
"I'll explain everything to you later sweetheart, you just ignore us for now." Sam said reassuringly as she placed her hand on his back.
"I'll refer you to a paediatric cardiologist now. He's one of the best in the country and I'd trust him with my daughter's life."
"Thanks Connie." Tom said quietly.
"You're more than welcome." Connie said sincerely before she walked away towards the nurses station and picked up the phone.
Sam and Tom felt sick to their stomach as they put their son to bed and tucked him in. Daniel was so innocent and vulnerable that he didn't have a care in the world, except trying to get rid of the nasty cough that he had. Meanwhile his parents felt nauseous at the recent diagnosis.
"Why did, I go hopital today?" Daniel asked slowly - he always mispronounced hospital and kissed the 's' out but Sam found it quite cute. And to explain it, Sam sat on the edge of his bed and Tom squatted down besides the bed so that they didn't seem quite as intimidating to him.
"Basically Daniel, you've got an illness, not this cold that'll go in the next couple of days, but you've got an illness which is probably why you get more out of breath when you run than expected. And this illness, won't go away unless you let a doctor help you. And this doctor is basically going to help you get better so you'll stay in hospital for a little while, and then when you come home, you'll be all better." Sam explained.
"Will I be awone?"
"No, of course not." Sam said quickly. "Me and Daddy are going to come and stay with you."
"Like a sleepover?" Daniel asked before he coughed.
"Yeah, just like a sleepover." Sam whispered as she held his hand.
"And you'll have lots of presents and sweets when you are better." Tom added and Sam gave him a sheepish look.
"Now then, you've got tissues there and a cup of water." Sam stated as she nodded to his small colourful bedside table that had a box of dinosaur tissues and a blue plastic cup on it. "If you're not feeling well in the night, come and see me or daddy and we might be able to give you some more of that yummy strawberry medicine that makes you all better." They had taken the baby gate off of Daniel's room in case he wanted his parents in the night but they had kept the gate on at the top of the stairs just in case.
"Yummy? No, it's yucky!" Daniel protested as he shook his head and Tom grinned.
"Right, shall we read you a quick story and then bedtime?" Tom suggested.
"Okay." He nodded and so Tom began reading whilst the infant drifted off. But whilst Tom managed to keep his cool together, Sam's eyes began to water and she felt like she was going to be sick so she made sure Daniel was very sleepy before she silently disappeared into her ensuite bathroom and splashed her face with water to cool her down. Minutes later, Tom came in and put a hand on her back.
"Daniel's going to be just fine." Tom stated. "I know it's scary thinking that he might have to have an operation but he's a strong lad. He's braver than you think." Tom stated but Sam almost sobbed as she put the back of her hand over her mouth. "Come here." Tom said as he pulled Sam into his arms and once her face was buried into his chest, she let a single tear roll down her cheek. "Hey, we're just lucky that you spotted the murmur this afternoon. If you hadn't have noticed it then he might've had to have had the operation when he's older. And the older he gets, the more he understands and the more apprehensive he'll be. It's best you caught it early... Come on, are you gonna come to bed with me?"
Sam gave a small nod in reply so Tom let Sam go first into the bedroom and they both got under their duvet.
"What if paeds don't let us stay on the ward with him? I hear they're getting really strict with visitors sleeping over and if we don't stay with Daniel then it'll be his first night away from us and he won't like it." Sam asked worriedly a few minutes after they had begun to lay in the darkness.
"Well we can ask them when we have the appointment with Mr Solis in a couple of days. And if they say no, then we've got plenty of money to go private and find somewhere where we can stay with him."
"Okay." Sam nodded.
"Go to sleep. There's no point in getting worked up about it because chances are, they're not going to find him a theatre slot for an elective surgery for a couple of weeks." Tom whispered whilst he wrapped his arms around her.
Coming up: It's the day of Daniel's surgery, but what will the outcome be? And Sam makes an astonishing discovery about something that will change the Kent Family forever!
Thanks for reading, please review :)