Day +40: Chuck & Kyung Came for Lunch!

What a lovely day today, even if it started off with a traumatising bang.

Overnight, I kept dreaming about eating the pulled pork we were going to have for lunch today, as I could smell the pork cooking away in the slow cooker. Sean must have had the same dreams, for he woke a few times during the night. As I wanted to bake a sourdough loaf for lunch, we got out of bed early to get Sean fed and watered.

Sean was quite irritable over breakfast, as he was tired from his broken sleep, and was very difficult with his breakfast. At one point, I walked away for a second, and heard Sean gag and throw up a small amount of food. I was standing behind Sean when this happened, and Sean's high pitched scream sounded more upset than usual. When I rounded to stand in front of Sean, ready to mop the mess, I saw why.

Sean had thrown up his NG tube. Yep, you read it correctly. Sean had thrown up his NG tube.

The far-too-narrow tube that the idiot nurse Luke had insisted on using was now hanging out of his mouth. The tube was still in Sean's nose, but the end that was suppose to sit in his stomach was dangling out of his mouth. It was an awesome sight. I yelped, and called Jonathan for help. He came running out of the bedroom to my cries, and saw the spectacle himself. I didn't know what to do - I was paralysed by this incredible sight of the tube swinging out of Sean's mouth, so Jonathan sprang into action and one swift motion, he ripped the tape off Sean's face and whipped the tube out of Sean's nose.

I immediately called C2 West at the Sydney Children's Hospital and spoke to Kate, to see if we could get the tube reinserted by someone in the ward. Kate said it would be best if we were to go to the SCH Emergency Department for the procedure, but if we wanted to go somewhere closer, then we could go to the Royal North Shore Hospital ED. I gave the RNS ED a call to forewarn them of our impending arrival (detailing that Sean was a recently discharged post-BMT patient, that we needed an NG tube reinserted, etc), so that they would be expecting us and be able to show us to an isolation room. The triage nurse said they could not guarantee anything for us, and that we should just come and wait in the waiting room until a doctor was ready to see us. Err... OK, yeah, nah. I was not going to take my chances with the RNS ED. Thanks, but no thanks.

After hanging up from the RNS ED, I gave the SCH ED a call, explained the same thing to them, and the nurse told us we would definitely be shown to an isolation room as soon as we arrived. Even though the SCH was further away than the RNS, knowing that we would be looked after immediately and correctly was worth the extra 10-minute drive.

While on our way to the hospital, we let Chuck and Kyung know what had happened, and told them to come by a little bit later than we had originally planned. Kyung was very worried, and offered to not visit us today, but as I had been looking forward to seeing them for weeks, I insisted that lunch was still going ahead. We didn't think we would be too long at the hospital, so we should still be home by midday.

As soon as we walked through the doors to the SCH ED, we were ushered to the triage nurse to review Sean, before being shown straight to an isolation room to wait for a nurse to come and insert the NG tube. The nurse was very efficient - the new tube was the correct size for Sean (a No. 8, for future reference), and 20 minutes after we arrived, we were ready to leave.

Since I was no longer able to bake bread, we went up to Brumby's Bakery and bought some San Francisco sourdough rolls. On our way home, we stopped in at the Surry Hills Shopping Village and grabbed some more grocery items that we forgot to pick up yesterday, as well as a cake from Michel's Patisserie for dessert, before heading home to wait for our visitors.

Chuck and Kyung came up the driveway around 12.30pm, and it was so lovely to see them. The pulled pork was almost ready, and I had just made the coleslaw to go with our lunch. The beers and wines were chilling in the fridge, and all I had to do was to put the cheeses on a cheeseboard and put out some crackers. They fawned over Sean, who was just as pleased to see them, and they and Jonathan excitedly pulled open Sean's gift from his Godparents and played with the truck and ramps.

We did indeed have cause to celebrate - Chuck was THIS close to signing on the dotted line to finalise his full time job with the City of Sydney Council. Chuck had been working as a street sweeper with the Council for a few months, as a contractor, and when the full time position came up, Chuck's supervisors encouraged him to apply for the job. Chuck enjoyed every aspect of the job - being outdoors, driving the special vehicles, the team he was working with, and it was really great to see he had finally found something he liked doing. Chuck may be the Sydney's most qualified street sweeper, holding a Masters in Accounting, but a full time job is a full time job, and it was one Chuck loved and enjoyed, so we wished him well with the job.

We sat down to the much anticipated pulled pork, and even I have to say, it was glorious. Topped with coleslaw, our pulled pork burgers were amazing. Everyone enjoyed the food and ate as much as our stomachs could hold.

As we weren't able to celebrate Kyung's 40th birthday with her in March, as we were preparing to enter hospital at the time, so we had a belated celebration today, with the yummy cake from Michel's Patisserie. Kyung was pleased, and played along with the fuss I made over the candles and singing.

Time flew and before long, Chuck and Kyung had to head home. Chuck had worked 6 days this week and was getting tired, and as he was the designated driver, so Kyung and I could have a drink together, it was time for them to go. We promised to catch up more often, once Chuck had an established roster and knew when he would have days off. It was really great to see them.

Sean always ate better when there was an audience, and tonight was no exception. Even hours after Chuck and Kyung left, Sean was still happy to eat like he had an audience. Sean's new NG tube was so much easier to use as well, and we got through his dinner without too much of a fuss. I really hope I never see the sight of one end of the NG tube hanging out of his mouth while still inserted in his nose!