ICU my friend

Did you catch my double entendre in the title? Trying to be a clever writer and failing with pride ha ha ha!

Anyway, one can well imagine that I have become very comfortable in ICU with Michael officially reaching the 10 day mark of his stay. I'm at hospital for about 5 hours every day. I pop in to see Michael for 10 to 30 minutes at a time, depending on what's happening in the ward, and the rest of my time is spent either expressing or working in the waiting area.

I have gotten to know some of the nurses who tell me about their kids, their pets, their favourite foods and favourite funny videos on Facebook. They also tell me amazing stories about memorable patients; babies and children who survive against all odds or interesting situations they have experience in surgical ICU. The team is quite a wonderful group and they're all very relaxed and friendly. Michael has been a case study for three nurses who are completing their course on paediatric cardiothoracic work and I happily gave consent because there's no harm in helping to further the education of enthusiastic healthcare professionals.

I'm also getting to know some of the parents of other patients. There's Casey who I have written about before. We message and email each other to check in on our kids' progress. I met Christina just yesterday after her son had surgery. He's 5 and the nurses say it's not often they get a preschooler patient. He's the big kid among all the babies and the newest "tenant" in the ward. There's only one girl in the ward and I've told the nurses I haven't had the courage to speak to her parents yet. They always look stressed but the nurses have said maybe a friendly chat with another parent may help them and make them feel a bit more assured, especially because their little girl is improving rapidly after quite a scare last week. Finally, there's the ward's smallest but currently most senior patient because he's been there the longest. He's only a month old and he's been there for almost all of that time. I finally spoke to his mom today and now I'm helping her to find new accommodation in Cape Town as she's here from East London.

I know I'm not the first parent whose child has been there for an extended stay but it makes things a lot easier being comfortable with the people who care for my child in this time. My way of making the best of a situation has always been to integrate myself with the people and thankfully I've encountered really nice people so far. Also, we are going to be back for Michael's second surgery next year and at least we'll be going back into a situation we now know and trust.

While I am trying to not be a nuisance and also choosing to have some days where I only visit once, ICU has become a bit of a second home filled with interesting aunties, quiet children I can only gaze upon from the safe zone of Michael's bassinet, the melodic beeps and flashing colours of the monitors and the oh so unforgettable scent of antibacterial gel.