Matthews Hospital Experiences

First Admission

With the run up to Matthew being admitted to hospital he was very challenging in School. At home he was getting upset with Support coming in and took very intense meltdowns. 

 I noticed a swelling in his groin just after a massive meltdown and took him to see the Dr. He was not eating and in quite a state but everything was ok the Dr said. 

The day I found the lump again, he had taken a massive meltdown and was refusing to get out of the car. It took 2 people from the school to assist, and took over 2 hours for Matthew to eventually move into the house. In this time he had smashed the mirror on the car and also the windscreen. 

When he was inside he settled quickly, and that's when I noticed the lump. I contacted the GP, and when we went to see him he said it had to be a trip to the children's hospital. 

Here my nightmare starts and I was always worried about how we would ever have to treat Matthew. When we arrived at the a and e, Matthew refused to lie on the bed which made things hard for everyone. He would not allow the nurses to do general observations. 

The surgeon came down and assured me it was not a hernia, and wanted to do an ultrasound, however Matthew was just not going on the  bed. Eventually it was decided to take Matthew to theatre. He was given strong pre meds and this did not have any effect on Matthew.  

Eventually the hospital had to get the security and had to restrain Matthew on a restraining harness. Seeing your son going through this was heartbreaking and I broke down. He was taken to the theater around midnight and I can remember being told it would only be about 30 mins. Well 1pm came round, the 2pm and nothing. I was shaking like a leaf. That was my world in theater. 

 Then someone came in and told me it was a hernia and Matthew was doing fine. The bowel had become compressed and pushed down and it took over 3 hours just to free it. It was not a normal hernia, but one that was seen in sports people. 

I was taken to the ward while they finished off in surgery. About 4:30am Matthew was wheeled in with tubes coming out of him and oxygen masks. As soon as he was in the room, I pulled the bed down and went out for the count. 

Matthew woke around 6:30am and straight away took the oxygen mask off and pulled all the cannulars out and sat on the chair. He was very wobbly. I sat next to him and gave him lots of assurance. 

The Dr came in and said that we could go home around 3pm and thought it would be better for Matthew to be home. Just before we went home, Matthew became very distressed saying he was sore and no go home he said . He hit out, but I managed to get him home. And had a fairly settled night.

                                Matthew at home settled