Saturday, January 23, 2010

Wings International Hospital



Well after a hell of a night Bella was no better this morning, and after having nurses in and out of her room all night, giving her medication when they could, we called for the Doctor to come and check her out again. He seemed genuinely concerned and ordered an urgent CT scan, so Bella and I were put in an ambulance and sent over to the Emergency section of the hospital, which was an experience in itself. Poor little Bella was terrified of the machine and in such a lot of pain, I had to wait outside while they did the scan, then we were packed back into the ambulance and up to the room.

Sometime later (can't remember times) but the doctor came back and had the scans with him, what I will never forget is when he held them up to the light and all you could see was a big mass on Bella's brain, crazy scary thoughts were running around my head and I'm sure at the time they were with Andrew as well. This is when he told us that Bella had what looked like a large bleed on the brain, I for the life of my can't remember many details here, as it was a lot to take in, all I can remember thinking is that we had to go home, we had to get our girl back to PMH and to the safety of Perth and our families.

We called the Australian embassy but being a Saturday they were closed but we got put through to Canberra and they helped us to with what to do and to get onto our insurers and onto international SOS who would arrange everything for us.

I was sent by Andrew back to the hotel, to pick up our passports and documents and to pack our bags, I met Amanda back at the hotel and promptly fell apart, but she helped me and comforted me and packed our bags for us.

I then headed back to the hospital and while I was away the International SOS doctor had been and made an assessment of Bella and together with the team back in Perth it was decided that Bella should be sent home on a Careflight.

Andrew rang both our families and let them know what was going on and that we would be at PMH in the early hours of the morning.

Arrangements were made with the help of Qantas to get Andrew home on a Jetstar flight which meant he had to leave the hospital around 6pm, Bella was still in agony and having him leave was so very hard on all of us.

The Careflight team arrived around 11.30pm and I immediately felt so relieved, Dr Joe and the nurse were both from Joondalup Hospital which is our local. Poor Bella had been in agony all day, with minimal pain killers and only the comfort of Andrew and I laying with her and patting her on the back and helping her to breathe through her pain, I really don't know how she did it.

Bella was immediately given a drip and pain killers and promptly knocked out, it was such a relief to see her peaceful again and not writhing in absolute agony.

Someone came up to the room and took our passports and a short time later we were back down to the ambulance and on our way to the airport, we were met at the plane by customs and then we were on our way home again, I was so scared that something would go wrong on the plane, but everything was okay it was a very smooth flight and Bella was out for the duration thankfully, a couple of times she moved around a bit but Dr Joe was there and sorted her out quick smart.

I even managed to sleep a little on the plane and before I knew it we had arrived back in Perth and were met by customs and the ambulance at the airport.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Bali Safari Park











We thought that Bella was a lot better this morning, took her to breakfast and while still very quiet she was wanting to go to the Safari Park with the other kids today so we headed off after breakie for a fun day.

Bella slept a lot in the car on the way and was quiet at the jewellery factory that we ended up visiting, I bought a gorgeous necklace pendant and she chose a cute chain and a lovely little bracelet.

Got to the Safari Park and she was still quiet, we did the Safari tour and she seemed to enjoy herself sitting there looking at the wildlife, afterwards she was not feeling very well and just didn't want to walk at all, so we put her in Carissa's pram and took her around the park like that. We did speak to a lady there who said to us that Bella looked terrible, which we knew but said that we should take her back to the doctors after our day, which was what we were already starting to think.

We ended up at the water park for a while and she seemed to enjoy cooling off in the water, but she was wanting to come back home again, so we decided that we had had enough and were going to head off, Darren and Amanda decided that it was enough for them too, so we headed back to the hotel where we called for the Doctor straight away. A different Dr came and we went over everything that had happened for the past few days, and he gave her some stronger drugs to try for her headache and said that if she was still in pain then we would need to take her to the Bali Wings International Hospital, which is exactly what we ended up doing.

We were immediately seen on arrival by the Paediatrician on duty who checked her out thoroughly gave her some strong drugs and had her admitted for observation.

What a night we were in for, she was in so much pain writhing in absolute agony, we were scared as to what was going on and powerless to stop the pain, we had nurses in and out all night, not much was given for the pain apart from a bit of panadol during the night.

Andrew let me get a bit of sleep and he dozed on and off beside her on the bed.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Bella heads to the pool










We made Bella go down to breakfast this morning but she still isn't feeling very well, she was very uncomfortable in the restaurant, the noise was hurting her head, the lights were hurting her eyes and she was very quiet and so not herself, so again we called on the doctor as we were quite concerned that she wasn't starting to feel any better. Doctor checked her out and gave her some other drugs to try for her headache.

I went down to the shops and bought her some sunglasses as we felt that if we took her down to the pool that she would enjoy herself and it might make her feel a bit better. So we took her down, she didn't really want to go as it was very noisy out there, so not like our Bella that's for sure, usually its impossible to keep her out of the water.

She had a juice drink and a quick swim but that was more than enough for her and she ended up back in bed for the afternoon. As you can see by these photos she was not having a good time poolside at all.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

BBQ Dinner by the Pool


Bella spent another day in bed, the vomitting has settled down a bit but her head is still sore. Tonight we took Bella to the poolside BBQ with Darren and Amanda, she is still not well, suffering still from her headache but managed to get a little something into her. We had the doctor back into her today, and he gave her some more drugs to try to make her better. Really starting to wonder if she has a migraine, as she has never had problems with headaches like this before.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Bella Sick in Bali


Bella unwell in Bali, poor girl has been vomitting and with severe headache since yesterday afternoon, have had the doctor in and he was worried about her having caught Typhoid, somehow we don't think that is right, but she is on some tablets and hopefully will be a bit better tomorrow. Nurofen is not helping her much poor kid.

Not probably the nicest use of an ice bucket but somehow you have to use what you have got.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Bali Bound


Here's a photo of Bella, very excited on her way to Bali today, can't wait to meet up with Amanda, Darren and the kids, was really looking forward to a relaxing holiday and enjoying countless cocktails by the pool.

Well we had an uneventful and somewhat pleasant flight, Bali is so close that its a breeze with flying.

Our room wasn't quite ready when we arrived so we were sent off to Gracie Kelly's for a drink and we managed to get some lunch for Bella, then it was off to our room, as soon as we hit the room Bella was into her swimmers and ready for the pool. Darren found us and off we headed to the kids pool and Bella had a wonderful time on the water slide while we watched and chatted in the pool.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Homeward Bound


Couldn't resist sharing this photo of Bella, who was suitably crashed out on the way home.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Mandurah Canals by Night again





















We had another nice night cruising the canals here in Mandurah, another most enjoyable night was had by all, the kids loved it.

Crabbing Mandurah Style




















Still here in Mandurah, out on the boat again today, and did a spot of crabbing, had a lovely time and of course we got enough for a feed for tonight.

Friday, January 8, 2010

Mandurah Canals






Here we are again on the canals enjoying some of the Christmas lights, pretty impressive if I do say so myself, we had a lovely time checking them out.

Crabs for dinner !!!

Mandurah






Today we are down in Mandurah, staying with Jodie, Paul and the kids for a couple of days at the Quest Resort, we went for a cruise on the canals this afternoon, lovely day for it and as you can see we were having a great relaxing time.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Sunset at Quinns Beach




















Oh its heaven living near the sea, life does not get better than this, I love that we get to enjoy these fabulous sunsets we are so very lucky indeed, tonight it was Sue, Bella and I going for a lovely stroll on the beach and of course a paddle in the water for my girl.

Friday, January 1, 2010

Happy New Year!!!










HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone, hope that you all had an awesome start to the new year, I know we all did, good friends, good times.


Hope your dreams come true in 2010.