Edwina Bartholomew: My shock when we ended up in emergency

I have done many stories in hospitals over the years, but it’s another thing entirely when it’s your own child in emergency, says Edwina Bartholomew.

It’s a rite of passage for every parent; a stint in hospital. This week, we joined the unenviable club of frazzled mums and dads in the emergency department, fretting about our child’s health.

As we twiddled our sweaty thumbs for 10 hours in the waiting room, kids streamed through the door with split lips, gushing limbs, influenza and even panic attacks. If there was ever a time to count your blessings, this was it.

We have been extremely lucky when it comes to our daughter’s health. When she was born, we checked off the usual shopping list of thermometers and painkillers; they’re all still in the box. Thanks to COVID and masks, she has barely had a cold or fever, so you can imagine our shock when we ended up in emergency on a Friday night.

Edwina with her mini-me. Picture: Instagram

Some of the weary faces around us suggested this wasn’t their first rodeo. The mums of boys looked at each other knowingly as they nursed sons with soccer injuries and what-will-happen-if-I-jump-off-this wounds. Then there were the families who knew the nurses on first-name terms, knew the protocols and where to sit because they’d been in and out of hospital so many times before.

For us, it was all new and mildly terrifying. We thought we were going in for a very quick check-up. We ended up staying all weekend. I say “we” but it was mostly just me. Due to COVID restrictions, only one parent or carer is allowed in hospital at any one time.

I kept thinking what if this was life-threatening, what if this was life-ending? Imagine having to do this all on your own. Many families have had to endure that terrible situation this past year.

I have done many stories in hospitals over the years, but it’s another thing entirely to be guiding your own child through a health hiccup. This time I was the mum with the red eyes, sleeping on a fold-out chair and worrying about the outcome of an operation.

Throughout it all, the doctors and particularly the nurses were extraordinary. They not only provided world-class care but pencils and paper for drawing, they blew bubbles as the needles went in and played peek-a-boo post surgery.

How lucky we are to live in this country where health care is, for the most part, available to all.

After two days, my daughter was discharged. I left hospital breathing a big sigh of relief.

Originally published as Edwina Bartholomew: My shock when we ended up in emergency