Memories of Max - A Father's Story

Chapter 1 - Admission

Home

At this point Max was conscious but sinking rapidly. I had a deep unease and even I could tell that he'd passed from being unwell to seriously ill. A number of thoughts came to the fore: ’This is serious but they know what they are doing’, ’Don’t lose it, it's all under control’, and ’I am his Dad. Keep him confident and everything will all be all right’

All of a sudden six nurses piled into the small room and the doctor asked me to leave.

“I’m sorry Mister Buchanan, but you must wait outside while we perform the next test.”

I thought - "You must be joking. Do you think I'm going to leave my son?

“I’m sorry but I am not leaving Max. Can you tell me what's going on.”

“We have to do a lumbar puncture. It has to be done without anaesthetic because of time constraints regarding the diagnosis. We have done this before with a parent present and there is the risk that the parent either passes out or becomes hysterical so we would like you to leave the room. The reason there are so many nurses here is that we have to hold your son down and there is not enough room for another person in the room. Please could you wait outside, it won't take long.”

“Dad, don’t go.”

This was where it all started to dissolve. This was where My-World-As-I-Knew-It started to disintegrate although I was not aware of it at the time.

“I’m sorry, but whatever you intend to do, I have no intention of leaving my son. I won't get hysterical but he needs me."

There was intense discussion between the nurses and the doctor.

“OK, you can stay but you must crouch down by his head.”

They weren't joking when they said there was not enough space. The room measured about seven feet by ten and was filled with six nurses, the doctor, Max and me. Max was lying on a children's examination bed. The nurses filled all the space around the bed. I crouched, squatting on my haunches, on the right hand side of Max's head. There were three nurses on one side, one at the end and two nurses and the doctor on the left hand side. Their objective was to draw fluid from Max's spine.

Max was very apprehensive at being surrounded by so many medical staff. I held his hand and talked soothingly to him, telling him not to worry, and that it would soon be over and all would be OK.

Click here if you would like details of how to buy a copy of the book