Grateful

Way back in November a small spot appeared on S's top lip. During December I had to take T to the doctor as he had hurt his ankle and S had had to come along with me and so I asked the doctor to cast her eye over the spot as it had begun to grow a bit bigger.

A small cyst which would probably burst and sort itself out she declared.

Slowly it continued to grow but it didn't burst. It was uncomfortable but not painful. I took S back to the doctor in February and he said he would refer us on to a maxillofacial specialist at the NHS hospital.

A few weeks into waiting for the initial consultation the spot had turned into what looked like a huge blood blister and one day it burst and bled. And boy did it bleed. G rang the hospital to see how the appointment making process was going only to be told they hadn't received the referral letter from our surgery. Although for the majority of the time all was ok, occasionally S would scratch her lip, or catch it when she was changing her clothes and the bleeding would start again. I was called into school twice in 3 days because of it.

G decided that we needed to take the situation into our own hands and he made an appointment at a private hospital. Let me say at this point we don't have private health care.

On Tuesday last week G took S for her consultation where he was told she had an  oral granuloma. Since the bleeding it had dramatically reduced in size and swelling but the doctor assured G that without treatment it would grow again and then burst and the cycle would carry on repeating itself.

On Thursday I took S to have the very quick freezing procedure she needed.

On hand to help during the procedure was Nuffy Bear and as his t-shirt shows he is a Very Important Bear as he sat on S's lap and she held onto him very tightly indeed.

I am grateful for the fact that although in this instance we didn't get to use the facilities of the NHS hospital, the option was there. The health care that S has received (and will continue to receive) since we became a family has been incredible.

I am grateful that although we had an eye watering bill to settle, in this instance, we were able to go with an option which has meant that since G made his decision everything was dealt with swiftly and S is now happy to look in the mirror and hopefully won't have to sit out of class or be sent home and miss school which she loves.

And after watching Comic Relief on Friday and the horrendous health issues for children and their families in Africa I was incredibly grateful again and again and again. 

Here is the girl herself all dressed up for school Friday morning complete with red nose. The theme was 'go dressed 1980's style' so we decided bright colours was the way to go. We had gone through S's wardrobe earlier in the week and chosen what she was going to wear but that morning she asked me 'Mum, could you help me get dressed for today like the olden days.'
Olden days!!!!!!!
The 80's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Surely the olden days should be something more like the Victorian era, not when Wham! and Culture Club were doing their thing!