Calum spent two days in intensive care after his
operation, which they kept him ventilated for, sort of,
24 hours post-surgery just because it had been such a
big operation, to give his body a little bit of a chance to recover.
Calum moved from the intensive care unit to the high
dependency unit which is actually up on the cardiac
ward. There you move from one nurse to a patient,
to one nurse to two patients, so there's not such a high
requirement for the one to one nursing.
Obviously you're still very closely monitored aren't you.
Very quickly you begin to see lines and drains being
removed and, you know, your child's becoming a bit
more comfortable because, obviously, the drains and
things are quite uncomfortable.
If he laughs, it's really painful and that can make him cry
so he wants to recover and be happy.
A physiotherapist will come up and they'll support him
and they're telling you to have a teddy bear or pillow and
put that close to his chest, and that will ease the pain
and over time that gets better.
We're really lucky that, you know, you can actually spend
time beside them as they recover, so you can actually
stay overnight and be by their side to watch that
recovery and it's amazing how quickly they bounce back
and it takes longer for the parents to get over the
surgery than the children I think, sometimes.
Having three children, it is quite a challenge in terms of
feeling you're supporting everybody. Intensive care is a
hard environment to be in on your own, and I think
you need support from each other and to support Calum
at his most vulnerable time.
Once Calum has gone, moved back up to the ward,
one of us stays with Calum and then one of us comes
home, so there's always one of us at home in the
evening and then to help with the morning routine, you
know, and just to keep on top of the homework and the
washing and those sorts of normal things that still
need to go ahead. You can talk to parents in the parents
room who are also going through those same feelings,
and that can really help, so there is always support there
to help you.
I think we, as a family, we're a very open and very close
family. We don't hide anything from the children,
certainly don't hide anything from Calum. We explain to
him, you know, you're gonna go for an ECHO and
that's gonna need a procedure, maybe, and then you
have to have surgery next year, so we're really open with Calum.
It's about that trust as well because if we're not honest
with them now, then they won't trust us, you know, going
forward. You know, focus on the good things as well,
and, you know, Calum did amazing and has come
through this operation. We all know he will need more
surgery in the future, but actually let's enjoy life and
make the most of the good times.
I know he gets frustrated, he doesn't mind feeling
different and he can see those differences more now
he's a bit older.
So I tend not to dwell on what the future
holds. I, you know, when he has a surgery I kind of
think, great you can get on with life for another three to
four years, maybe, and then we'll have to go through
it all over again, but sadly it's kind of
come around quicker than we think.
I cope better than I used to. When he was younger,
I think I was completely consumed all by it and I couldn't
see beyond Calum's heart condition.
I like to try and cope by making sure that everybody's
well prepared. I think that's probably my strategy.
So it's an incredible experience and journey and this
really shaped us as a family. It's a rollercoaster of a ride
and you will be very resilient at the end of it.
We have some amazing people that do such an
amazing job caring for him, that we know he is in the
very best of hands and, you know, we will take that next
step as it comes and we'll deal with the consequences
of that as we go forward, won't we.