So, I'm a bit late tonight - I had to eat first.

If I were a writer of stories no-one would find the following credible - truth is indeed stranger than fiction. I lie not - trust me - I don't even put in ALL the details - just the main bits. I'm so glad that we have a God who orchestrates everything for His glory.

This morning passed off quietly enough - we watched quite a few of the Teaching Company DVD's - with profit.

After dinner we watched a bit more then I took Samuel to see Lucy and Josiah. Then I dropped Samuel round at Juniper ward. I stayed for a few minutes before going back to get Richard to take him for the Doctors appointment I thought would be necessary after he had looked so very pale first thing this morning. I phoned at 8.30am and was to wait for the duty doctor to phone me back. He phoned eventually and gave me 3.05 - a bit inconvenient for hospital visiting times - but then again, we ended up there in any case. After the Doctor had asked Richard to stand up so he could look in his ears, then again so he could listen to his chest, he decided that anti-biotics would be the thing. While he was mentioning that, Richard went alarmingly strange 'tachycardic', clammy and even more white. Later when the Doctor was handing over the ambulance crew he mentioned something which sounded like 'vascular' - from which I gathered that either because of a release of toxins from the infection or because of poor adjustment from being up high to being down low again (and being a teenager and having been unwell for at least 3 weeks already) he'd not got enough oxygen to his brain so his body had shut down to save damage. Even the doctor looked disturbed. He made a series of plans and then changed them in favour of 'wheelchair' and 'treatment room' - on the way calling to the receptionist that she needed to call 999! In the treatment room Richard got oxygen, a venflon (that poor gp had evidently not kept his hand in on that....) and some fluids. So, eventually an ambulance showed up and we had a ride to A and E - thankfully he went down as a 'child' and we got nice people to look after him. Richard was observed for a couple of hours and then it was decided that he should be admitted - maybe just for the night. By the time he went to the ward he was far less alarming than he had been at 3.05pm - and he had an official 'temperature' - for which he was now going to get paracetemol and he would be given antibiotics (which the doctor was in the middle of prescribing when it all went wrong).

So tonight at St Peter's they have one R.>L van den Broek on Juniper Ward - and another (right across the corridor!) on Oak Ward. (it might be a record to have 4 family members in one hospital simultaneously!) Thomas kindly collected the car from the health centre so I could drive home. I was sorry not to get over to see my dear daughter and grandson again - but hey, you can only be in so many places at a time..... Thanks to my mobile phone having both charge and credit (did you READ that, children??) I was able to provide for visting for Ron, prayer for Richard - and even pyjamas - not to mention the return of the car and brief visits for Richard from Paul and three of his real brothers.

So, Samuel walked home once Ron had been taken to theatre at 3-ish. Paul visited ron in the evening and he was in good spirits. Josiah was out from under the phototherapy lamp - looking quite pink - and Lucy was continuing to work on getting her haemoglobin up.

I told Richard I'd see him at 7am (I could have had a bed there for the night - how funny would THAT be!!!) so I'd best get off to bed. Hoping for a more uneventful day tomorrow.

Oh I must just say that one of the personal-touches that made me know that the Lord was in control was that as the day-staff were going off duty, the replacement on the A and E was brought into the room. I haven't had vast experience of the children's nurses but there is one who shares a mutual antipathy - and whom the Lord had take charge of my darling little Victoria whenever she was in St Peter's, on the ward. It was she who was taking over the care of Richard - thankfully we didn't have to have any stand-offs this time because Richard was soon after that taken to the ward - but it makes one wonder why we had to encounter her again.