Tuesday 25th August 2009. A grotty day.

What a day it’s been today.

Yesterday lunchtime, I noticed a few spots on Harry’s back and by mid afternoon he had a really high temperature, so off I trotted to the doctor (except it wasn’t that easy – the doc is on the other part of this base, where Richard works and a security pass is needed to enter. Of course, I don’t have a pass yet. Not only that, we are not yet registered with the med centre. To top it off, surgery had finished and no one was answering the ‘phone. So....I called Richard out of a conference (yes, I was most popular), he had to come and collect us as we only have one car at the mo and he was able to use his pass to get us through. The place was closed but I managed to persuade a nurse just leaving to get a doctor to see Harry. The doctor told us he was pretty sure it was chicken pox and to do the normal stuff one does with that. So we went home but I kept saying to Richard that I just didn’t think it was that – something didn’t seem right. It just didn't seem like chicken pox.

Anyway as today progressed Harry looked far worse, so we had to go through the whole getting onto the camp rigmarole again where the doc told me that he was fairly sure that Harry had measles! It’s definitely some sort of viral infection and probably measles (a slightly mutated form) but because of the vaccine programme in Great Britain he hadn’t seen a case for 25 years so had to call in another doc for a second opinion. He then sent us on our way to Medicine Hat hospital having been in touch with ER asking for Harry to be admitted recommending blood tests, fluid drip and something to bring down his temperature of just under 105*F. So.....back home we went, kitted myself out with an overnight bag (GP reckoned we’d be in hosp there for 2 days).

Well, we spent the whole afternoon and part of the evening in the in hospital with Harry under observation (the girlies were so good, it was really boring for them). They gave me the choice of giving him the tests and staying in overnight but I was reluctant. Confirmation or not of measles, he will still need the same care and meds as it is a viral infection. It would also save Harry being poked and pierced, which wouldn't be nice. So we brought him home and as long as I can keep his temperature down he can stay at home. The second he becomes floppy as he was earlier in the day we have to dash back to the hospital where they’ll test in earnest. Poor wee thing, he is covered in large flat blotches each with a deep red circumference, the whites of his eyes are red, the skin surrounding his eyes is purple and he just looks terrible. So....we need to get through tonight and pray that tomorrow is a turning point.

Just to add a little excitement to an otherwise dull and uneventful day........ when we finally returned from hospital, we sent Lexi fro a shower. A few moments later, we heard a thud and then a blood curdling scream. On dashing in, we were presented with poor little Lexi standing in the shower, shattered glass all over the floor and blood all around her feet. Bit of a shocker, I have to say, and her frightened screams weren’t helping with the overall picture, but with a huge amount of patience and calm (!) Richard managed to tweezer out all the tiny shards of glass from her feet. When we finally got her out of the cubicle, she was shaking and jittering in shock, poor little thing. She has since been read chapter and verse on why it's not that good an idea to take a glass into the shower .....

Quite a day!

Most tragic of all (!) is we have been invited to a cocktail party at the end of this week and neither of us have the right attire with us – it’s all still in packing boxes somewhere on a ship!