The Holidays are coming..

With the beginning of December days away, the excitement of advent calendars and Christmas decks being put up spread thought the house like wildfire. I’d finished my masters in October, I was three months pregnant and feeling terrible, I took a break from writing and concentrated on getting ready for the festive season, I was tired, but I was ready to convert the house into Whoville and give the kids an amazing Christmas, as second to Halloween it’s a top festive celebration in The Von Tatchenstine household.

November was in its last week, Dexter and all the kids had been tired. Dexter was emotional and full of cold, his skin pale and his mood contrary, which wasn’t terribly out of character for him, he would often get moody over the slightest things. As the week went on, he was flagging and finding it difficult to be energetic, snuggling on the sofa at the end of every day. With a small number of school days left, the kids were counting them down. Without fail a dishevelled Dexter would appear in the classroom doorway his hair, overgrown, ash blonde and beautiful. He’d amble over to me, all smiles or all grumps and talk me through his day as we headed back to the car. Dragging his feet, he was weary; school was exhausting, and he was working hard.

Two days that week he was really warm and full of cold, so he stayed home with me, it was just him and me for the day, he was quiet but cuddly but picked up for eating and a bit of a rest and after a few days he said he was ready to go back to school, I could tell he wasn’t refreshed but happy enough to continue, everyone was tired, it was the end of term and nearly Christmas, I didn’t think anything of it. Dexter woke Jack and I bright and early, he’s always been the early riser of the family, his right eye looked a bit sore, Jack worried it was conjunctivitis, it was likely, but it wasn’t bad enough for drops or treatment, so off he went to school happy. When he came out of school that afternoon, his eye looked a little angrier and his tear duct was sore. But Dexter was learning the sheep shimmy, so he was excited to get to school

Dexter was given the prestigious role as Sheep in the nativity, he was excited he’d learnt the words the dance, he was ready, he tried on his costume that had arrived that day and was thrilled, his eye was a little

sore, but nothing I felt hugely concerned about.

That evening my dad came around to take the kids swimming, I thought it best not to let Dex go as he was full of cold and his eye was sore, he was livid with me as swimming is his favourite but I wasn’t backing down and eventually he fell asleep on the sofa, which totally justified my stand off with my five year old.

Next morning, November 30th 2019, there appeared to be little improvement in Dexter’s eye. We grabbed the class wallaby and headed down to Asda, that was the furthest we were venturing out for the weekend. I promised Dex that we’d get his medicine and then we’d go pick presents for him to give all his brothers and sisters and he was very keen to buy something for his dad.

I took this photo to put in the book that accompanied the stuffed Wallaby, to show that we had taken her Christmas shopping with us. I’m not one of those parents that love to participate in the school comm

unity, and to be fair a germy toy being sent home that’s been snuggled and held by every child in the class, they are never well received by me. So this was it a trip to Asda was the only outing this wallaby was getting from us.

That evening when putting in his eye drops was when we noticed, a red blob at the top of his nose, It looked gloopy, I thought he’d blown his nose too hard.

He was full of life kicking off about his drops and when we looked on google we concluded it might be a nasal polyp and we’d probably end up down the doctors come Monday, and we weren’t wrong, from that Friday night, he had two noes bleeds and the red blob of goo appeared to be growing, the polyp appeared to be filling out and stretching his nostril across his cheek, I was heading to the GP first thing in the morning as it was looking uncomfortable.

Sunday was our evening of family viewing, we’d been watching, His dark Materials with the kids and as it was the first of the months, so I cracked out the Christmas Pj’s for the occasion. Everyone looked great, and we all felt jolly, Christmas was our favourite time of year.

The next morning came as a shock, I had just got out the shower, Jack was lying on the bed browsing his emails. Dexter came in and said so this happened. His whole face was covered in blood and his new pj’s covered in blood where his nose had ruptured in his sleep. He was docile, I was panicked internally, I tried to hold it in as I didn’t want to frighten him. It didn’t matter how much I washed him down, the blood kept coming and he was whipping it all over his cuff and face. The polyp was now showing out the bottom of his nose, it was so rapid, it wasn’t there Friday and now Monday morning it’s hanging out the bottom of his nostril. Dexter took it in his stride, he’s proven to be a stoic boy from this day onwards.

Dr Cole fitted us in as an emergency patient that morning, I explained my suspicions that it could be a possible polyp and how Dexter had been suffering with a cold in previous weeks.

He agreed it was likely to be a polyp but thought it was wise to get him seen on the ENT ward that day, just to be sure. Ringing through, we had to wait, he was put on hold for a good fifteen minutes, while Dexter meandered round the doctor’s office and I sat twiddling my thumbs for him to finally put through to a junior doctor.

The chat didn’t go well.