Our Story by Paula
Well Ross has told you the story so far, now I will take over for a while.
The ambulance crew took us to Inverclyde Royal Hospital in Greenock where we went straight into A&E. They took Cameron into a room where the paediatric and casualty staff worked on him. Scott and I were taken into a room next to where they were working on Cameron. At that time no-one knew what was wrong with him. The paediatrician, Doctor Kelly, told us it could be an infection or there could be something wrong with his heart. They were treating him for everything at the time and had contacted Yorkhill Children’s Hospital in Glasgow for help.
Most of the day from then is a bit of a blur but what I remember most is how helpful and concerned all the staff were. Dr Kelly came to see us a few hours after we arrived. I remember his words and tone made me realise then that this was something really serious and there was a real possibility that we could lose our beautiful new baby son. I cried for a while and then Dr Kelly told us we could go in and see Cameron but to be prepared because he was unconscious and ventilated. He was connected to all sorts of machines and drips and for the first time I noticed how small and vulnerable he really was. Before then he had always looked so big and robust and healthy!
Dr Richens, a cardiologist from Yorkhill came down with a portable echo machine and diagnosed Cameron with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. At the time this meant nothing to us except that we had to pray they could make him stable enough to transport him to Yorkhill, and from there to Birmingham or London where an operation to help babies with Cameron’s condition was available.
My parents and Scott’s parents had been called and came to the hospital. My Uncle Gerald also came out to see if he could help in any way. My friend Karen works in the hospital and she came out to see us too. When the offer to call the hospital chaplain was made I was very appreciative because I had been thinking about having Cameron baptised ever since Dr Kelly had told us how sick he was. Father Matthew Little came out to the hospital a short while later to perform the ceremony.
Cameron’s baptism in the hospital was very solemn and stressful. My father-in-law was extremely upset and found it too difficult to attend. The only noise in the room was the alarms from the machines and Father Matthews voice. The service was short and all of those present, including the medical professionals, stopped what they were doing for the duration.
We were in the casualty department in IRH for five and a half hours. At one point Joyce and June, another midwife, came down to see us. They were really quite upset and told us to keep in touch with his progress. A transfer team of doctors and nurses from Yorkhill came to take Cameron away. We watched them wheel away this tiny little bundle on an adult size bed surrounded by machines which took up more room than he did. We all found that extremely difficult because we did not know if he was going to survive the half hour journey to Glasgow.
At this point I really must mention all the medical professionals, the midwives, GPs, ambulance staff, A&E nurses & doctors, Paediatric nurses & doctors, anaesthetists, Yorkhill staff & everyone who helped that day. It would be impossible to name them all, not that I could because there are so many of them! We will forever be grateful to them all.
This part of Cameron’s story all took place on Monday 14th June 2004. The next part of the story was the beginning of a new chapter of our lives, so it will be a new chapter in Cameron’s story too!
