13Feb08 - Portimao Hospital

Dawn, Joshua and Lucy went to Portugal on Monday for a weeks holiday staying with Dawn's parents. Lucy had been a bit unwell over the weekend but we thought that she was well enough to travel. She slept all the way on the plane which made the journey nice and easy for Dawn. Their first couple of days went really well. Dawn particularly had been looking forward to the break and spending some quality time with Joshua and Lucy. On Tuesday afternoon Lucy's temperature was really high and she wouldn't take any food or medicine. It was enough to make Dawn take her to the local hospital in Lagos. It must have been daunting having to explain Lucy's condition in an unfamiliar hospital especially with the language barrier. Lucy's oxygen saturation levels had dipped into the low 90's so she was given oxygen straight away. She was also given a paracetamol suppository to bring her temperature down. There is no specialist paediatric unit at the local hospital so late on Tuesday evening Lucy and Dawn were transferred to Portimao hospital which is about an hour away from where her parents live. Dawn went alone in the ambulance as her parents were looking after Joshua. They arrived safely in Portimao after a hair raising ride in the ambulance. Dawn then had to deal with a new set of Portuguese Doctors and nurses to try and explain Lucy's complex condition. Lucy was put on a ward with other sick children and the only place Dawn could sleep was a chair at the side of Lucy's bed. She was given a chest x-ray which showed that ther is quite a bit of fluid on both of her lungs. They are regularly suctioning her to help her shift it but Lucy is struggling with a bad cough. Dawn ahas been happy with the service so far but is finding it difficult not being able to find out exaclty what is going on and what the thoughts of the Doctors are. Of course all the ward rounds are carried out in Portuguese. Lucy was able to have a small pot of pureed fruit this afternoon which is encouraging but it is likely that she will have to stay in hospital for the next 4 to 5 days. They are due to come home again on Monday so it is uncertain at the moment whether this will be possible. Dawn is not too concerned for Lucy at the moment which puts my mind at ease a little. Lucy always seems to be affected more acutely to common bugs and needs much longer to recover from them. It is really hard not being with them and not being able to find out what is going on but Dawn is keeping me regularly updated. I know Lucy is a fighter and will do her best to get well as soon as she can. Lucy is stable at the moment although still coughing a lot and still on oxygen to help improve her saturation levels. The nurses are being very attentive and she seems to be in safe hands. Some people like to collect stamps, some like to tick off all the countries they have been to but Lucy likes to tick off as many different Hopistals as she can.