Mental Meanderings

The Children's Ward - Fremantle Hospital

The Literary Penguin 's entry in his blog today inspired me to write about some of my childhood memories. I came to my blog tonight unsure what to write about and then read about the charity work and was pulled into memory lane, yet again.

Please beware that these memories are tainted by youthful oblivion, chances are the reality of it differs for those who experienced these same events but I was a young girl, dearly in love with my life-loving brother, and full of joy and peace in the world. I accepted life, and death had not cast a reality and inevitablity or fear on me.

Many years ago, gosh I can't even remember how many or how old I was, my brother was in hospital. Gaelon had a terminal illness and was in hospital quite a bit over his years and I only have precious snippets of memories that involve the hospital. I believe I spent some time there as a patient as well but I don't remember any of that. Perhaps I'll ask Fizzgig if she remembers and would blog about it. *chuckles*

Anyway, in those days Gaelon was full of energy. He wasn't always too happy about having to be in hospital because it meant a lot of restriction to everything he did. It also meant a great deal of pain I expect but he bore it well, so well that his little sister often forgot where they were and why. To me this was normal. Hospitals weren't scary places people went to die but where sick kids went to get better. I'm lucky in that hospitals are still a place of healing to me.

There are three strong memories coming to the fore when I think of the time Gaelon was in hospital. I suspect each was separate occassions but again, time and situations are foggy.

The first is the room down the end of the ward. I swear for a child this room was a magical haven of fun and excitement. The walls were vibrantly painted with pictures and childrens TV characters and fantasy. Beanbags were strewn across the floor with cushions and the kids would gather to read books, play with toys and games or just chatter with each other. This place was freedom. Freedom from the ward, from the beds, from the watchful eyes of the nurses, and the worried faces of the parents. In here everyone seemed to smile and the children were equal and 'normal'.

I also remember, the wheelchairs. *chuckles* Ok, so sick people have to be pushed around in wheelchairs because they're not allowed to walk. Often my brother would have skin graphs on his legs where they took skin from his thigh to use as replacement for sections where they had cut cancers from other parts of his body so his legs were often in bandages. This lead to the introduction of wheelchairs into our lives.

I'm sure the ward nurses must have disapproved but I remember darkened wards and my brother and I perhaps even my older sister in wheelchairs racing up and down the hall. I can't remember ever getting told off for doing this but I doubt very much that it was encouraged. lol It must have been particularly dangerous but OMG it was fun. *grins* We got pretty clever with those chairs, we'd have agile turns and be able to break on a dime. I used to drive a wheel chair better then I drive a car these days. lmfao Even still I expect Gaelon would be faster and more able then me. He also kicked my but in car racing video games.

Speaking of video games I remember Donkey Kong. DONKEY KONG!!! Fizzgig do you remember Donkey Kong? *chuckles* One year while Gaelon was in hospital Mum bought him a gaming console. These days that means Playstation, Dreamcast, Nintendo, or Gameboy but back in the day we had little hand held single game games. Donkey Kong was a little orange box with a grey screen. Black dots on the screen turned into logs and coconuts and one big gorilla.

This game was a hit, it kept Gaelon entertained for hours and it kept the rest of us enthralled as well. On reflection I bet it cost Mum a pretty penny to buy but it was worth every dime. That game lasted years. I wonder where it is now. *ponders* I know that it definately made that hospital encarceration more bareable and by then Gaelon was getting into his teens and could get pretty fed up with his condition. It might even have been the first time he could no longer be in the children's ward and was placed in the dull, and maudlin cancer ward instead.

Speaking of enjoyable hospital stays I have one that's no where near as enjoyable as the three above but was still delightful. The difference is I faced it not as the sister of a patient but the mother. Three years ago my daughter had a daystay in a private hospital. She had Early Childhood Caries, a condition where her teeth had decayed very badly. We believe this was probably largely related to the reflux she had as a baby and the mistake of letting her go to sleep with a bottle.

Anyway, this hospital was beautiful. Strange to call a hospital beautiful but for the price it cost to send her there for a few hours it had better be. *chuckles* She was booked in for 9 extractions and would go under general anasthetic so would remain in the hospital until she was awake and the orthodontist was happy to send her home.

She was such a brave and wonderful little girl. She understood that her teeth, which by then were hurting her so much she could not eat properly, would be getting taken out. She wore a cute blue and colored gown that tied at her sides and her bed was firm and big and comfy. We watched cartoons and played with the wide arrange of toys while waiting for her surgery.

Of course while she was away it was a very anxious wait for me, her father, and her Nanna. We had a meal and read and talked.

When she came back I was so very glad to see her but concerned because she was still sleeping and even when she eventually stirred was very sleepy and mostly out of it. Her mouth bled a lot, soaking the sheets which was pretty scary but apparently normal and considering she had 9 holes in her mouth not surprising. The teeth in a little jar were not pretty to look at and I felt like a pretty useless mother to have let them get so badly decayed.

As she came to we watched more cartoons and I lay and held her close or stroked her hair or just sat watching her, conscious of her and letting myself feel within her space and calm down after being pretty strung out over it all. It's amazing how intensely important you realise someone is to your existence when you face something like that. This surgery was not really a big deal but it was still very, very scary.

*ponders* Strange that story doesn't really seem to tie in with the ones above. Except that it was another wonderful children's ward. It's not the same seeing it from the point of view of an adult. The memories are wrapped up in the emotions, the fear, the love, instead of just having fun.

Anyway, it's so late I should be fast asleep. It's wonderful to look back on the past and remember fondly. I've had some great experiences that very few people might experience and it's not until these memories are dedged up that I've come to realise how full a life I've already lead.