Ten years ago today, my wife was rushed into hospital. She was eight months pregnant with our daughter, Jaimee. Nici's blood pressure had suddenly spiked. A midwife, who could have easily just gone 'Nah, she'll be fine' had seen the beginnings of that spike the day before and it had niggled at her. So she checked, off her own initiative, the next morning. Just in case. She saved two lives.
Nici had HELLP syndrome, a severe form of preeclampsia. In hospital, over the next couple of days, the doctors tried to bring Nici's blood pressure under control. You know there's something wrong when a bunch of doctors come in and every one of them is a specialist, one of whom was called in specially, and every one of them has their 'hmmmm...' face on.
The only 'cure' for HELLP is for the baby to be born, regardless of the stage of the pregnancy. The doctors and nurses did what they could but, by the 19th the choice was stark. Jaimee would need to be born, or both she and Nici would be lost. There was, despite Jaimee deciding not to breathe on a couple of occasions, and despite Nici needing transfusions and a while in ITU, a happy ending. A very happy ending.
I celebrate my daughter's birthday on the 19th, but today I celebrate a midwife and an NHS that saved my daughter's and my wife's lives. No worrying about whether we had the right insurance or not. No worrying about how we'd pay for everything the insurance somehow didn't cover. Just time to be concerned about the truly important things; my wife and my daughter.
Don't let anyone take *your* NHS.
Nici had HELLP syndrome, a severe form of preeclampsia. In hospital, over the next couple of days, the doctors tried to bring Nici's blood pressure under control. You know there's something wrong when a bunch of doctors come in and every one of them is a specialist, one of whom was called in specially, and every one of them has their 'hmmmm...' face on.
The only 'cure' for HELLP is for the baby to be born, regardless of the stage of the pregnancy. The doctors and nurses did what they could but, by the 19th the choice was stark. Jaimee would need to be born, or both she and Nici would be lost. There was, despite Jaimee deciding not to breathe on a couple of occasions, and despite Nici needing transfusions and a while in ITU, a happy ending. A very happy ending.
I celebrate my daughter's birthday on the 19th, but today I celebrate a midwife and an NHS that saved my daughter's and my wife's lives. No worrying about whether we had the right insurance or not. No worrying about how we'd pay for everything the insurance somehow didn't cover. Just time to be concerned about the truly important things; my wife and my daughter.
Don't let anyone take *your* NHS.
No comments:
Post a Comment