It was a different journey to the hospital the next morning. Usually the drive can drag, and I manage to lose myself somewhere between Bilton and Binley Woods, before hitting the busy roundabout taking you to the turning to the hospital…… There was nothing extra ordinary I can remember about it, except that it was completed in the blink of an eye.
Making our way up to the Adolescent Unit, Meg was shown to her very own room! She was of course delighted with the 'en-suite' and finding out the TV came down to the bed, meaning she didn't have to sit in a chair dangling her feet over the edge nearly made her combust with pleasure! Amazing how different our mindsets were that day.
Bang on 8.30 am, she was taken down to have an MRI. The results of which didn't come as quickly as the journey to the hospital did, it probably was about half an hour from start to finish, but my god, did it feel like an eternity.
There was no tumour.
The relief I felt then was like nothing else I'd ever felt. Meg was booked in for a CTV Scan the next day, this is where they pump a dye straight into your vein straight out of the 'Carry On Screaming' film set, I almost expected 'Oddbod' to appear behind me at some point.
Again, this also came back fine.
On day three, she had a lumbar puncture. Even with my 'hardcore-no-sympathy' personality, I couldn't face staying in with her, and so Craig stepped up to the mark in being a superb supportive daddy, and whilst I fell to pieces outside in the corridor - Meg was having a lumbar puncture party - calmly discussing her relief in putting some decent Jack Wills pants on that morning as opposed to her usual 'comfy' M & S pants. The Consultant, Nurses and her making fun of Craig who had no idea who Jack Wills was and 'what was she doing wearing his pants!'
This result showed that the pressure in the fluid around the brain was too high, and that she had a condition called Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension. Probably caused by the Growth Hormone, and very rare. She was put onto a drug called Diamox and released back into society a couple of days later.
The side effects of the Diamox were horrendous, and the pressure still remained high. Her optic nerves were swollen with the fluid squashing onto her brain, and she was in definite danger of going blind. After 6 months she went to see a Neuro Surgeon at Birmingham Childrens Hospital and it was decided that she would need a shunt to drain the fluid from the brain into her stomach, this would be a permanent fixture, but hopefully she would have some relief from the horrendous headaches and dizziness that had stopped her from living life to the full for the last five years.
I am lucky to have a daughter who is so very much more braver than anybody I know. I have drawn strength on many occasions since from her courage. She has shown me to not fear medical procedures or the unknown, by always being so calm. I am not sure I would always be as positive if she was as hysterical as what you would expect from somebody being in the same situation.
Daisy must not be forgotten in all of this. She has a quiet concern for her sister, and knowingly can assess Megs health within a millisecond, but at the same time, can make us all cry with her unique gift of expertly timed humour - diffusing our grief and anxiety in a flash.
When I had to explain to her that Meg was going into hospital for a while and that I wouldn't be here either, I was nearly close to tears, my voice quivering with nerves I started to justify why she would need such a serious operation.
"You know Meg has a problem with the fluid around her brain?"
"Yes."
"Well, she's going to have an operation to put a tube into her head and into her tummy."
Her little face showing concern, and trying to simplify the magnitude of the circumstances, I said,
"It is quite a big operation, but if she doesn't have it, she will go blind."
Her eyes widened, a split second smile flickered across her face, her hands automatically and instinctively went up in a silent prayer pose….
"Does that mean we'll get a Guide Dog puppy!"
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