Has Father Santa Clause been?

G has been bursting with the joy of Christmas this December. That is on the days when she hasn't been ill...hmm...  G has been ill this December!

We've frequented the out of hours, our local surgery, and the walk in centre due to numerous infections. Throat and ears, but ears mainly.
To combat the ongoing problem G was upgraded from banana medicine to some horrendous tasting, vomit inducing antibiotics which ended up doing more harm than good. So four days before Christmas on the advice of the Doctor, we went cold turkey.
She is still riddled with cold, but her ears appear to have relented for now.

Christmas
We had a fantastic Christmas day. Love, family, food, sharing, giving, happiness. Though tantrums were two a penny. But I guess for a toddler who is a stickler for routine,  and has a tummy as delicate as a flower, she was bound to go a little crazy with the food and gift frenzy! Routine was restored at bedtime,  and she slept like a log (almost) for the first time in weeks.
Aswell as G receiving some lovely gifts, I received a truly thoughtful gift this year. My amazing husband combined my love of writing this blog, and my dream of becoming an author to create my very own hardback copy of Short 'n' Sweet, volume 1. Seeing G's story in print, hundreds of pages of print, reminded me of what an inspirational little girl we have. A beautiful God-given child who has defied the odds.

The A word
Four appointments in the forthcoming weeks. Ears-old consultant, eyes, more in-depth eyes, and ears-new consultant. Four appointments that involve physical contact. Habitual utterings of  'Don't worry they're just talking to mummy about you, they won't touch you' will be null and void!

So for us now,  back to thank you cards and playing hairdressers/babies and mummies/Fireman Sam, just like any other 2 year old. Only, one that's missing a tiny little chromosome.

Wishing you all love and peace for 2016

The problem with a high pain threshold

The problem with a high pain threshold is that G doesn't often realise how poorly she is. We have to second guess. Fit together the pieces of the complex puzzle.
Do your ears hurt? They Tickle.... how's your mouth? My teeth and tongue are sore.... do you feel poorly? A little bit but I don't need to go to the doctors....This is a classic trait of Turner Syndrome.

So today we've mostly been sat in the overcrowded pen that is our local walk in clinic. Standard winter behaviour in the Chapman household, (we need reservation signs for the out of hours!)
This virus has persisted, but after 7 weeks and numerous dismissals from various clinicians, G has finally got some antibiotics.  Winter ear infection count 3 - G 0. Plus a throat infection for good measure.

ENT
Finally I've initiated the re-refferal process so that we can get G a new ENT consultant. Our GP has even stated that long term care will be necessary. In the meantime the decision as to whether to keep our current appointment with our less than favoured consultant for 2 weeks time.  Watch this space!

ROLE PLAY
G is obsessed with role play... Caring for her twins and cleaning are the activities of choice at the moment.  So when we took delivery of a Little Tikes sink and stove with fully functioning tap last week, she was beside herself. Literally. The first thing she asked for upon waking the next day was to wash up.  At 6am. Maybe I'll benefit from this in 10 years time?!
She's also made sure to tell santa that this year it is vital that she gets a double buggy, double highchair and double car seat for her twins. I love watching her play. Especially when I hear my sayings creeping into her role play dialogue.

CHRISTMAS MAGIC
Christmas is magical this year for G. It's the first year thats shes been able to take it in and start to appreciate the joy of it all. The chocolate, the lights, the stories, the advent calendar. Especially the advent calendar. Having sourced a reasonably priced dairy free calendar,  I knew that she would be excited. But little did I know that our usual evening whisperings of 'love you, kiss kiss' would be replaced with 'so when I get up in the morning I can have another chocolate can't I? '
Sadly we've missed our Carols by candlelight service today, but we hope to visit a Bethlehem reinactment at our local church soon. That and an obligatory visit to Santa's workshop next week.

FEELING THANKFUL
So with the last week of term coming up, and finally getting moo on the road to winter bug recovery in time for Christmas, I can safely I'm thankful for several things right now:
The NHS, regardless of how overcrowded it's frontline service was;
(Almost) completing a term in my new school;
Having a beautiful daughter who takes all things in her stride;
And having an amazing husband who puts up with all my hysteria about G and her health.

That, and having an incredible God who looks out for us all. 

Next post, CHRISTMAS!