Medically discharged

Caleb was back home before 10 am this morning, and very much improved. His breathing is pretty much normal again, but he still has a bit of a cough and is slightly wheezy. I have to nebulize him every evening at home for the next few days, and during the day if he needs it. Aaron and I got to the hospital just before 8 this morning, and Caleb was up and watching TV – still wearing the same clothes he was in yesterday, having bypassed pyjamas completely! I got him changed into fresh clothes, gave him his vitamins, and then he had breakfast of soggy cornflakes with hot milk and toast. Aaron had a cup of tea, since it was on offer. Then they both watched cartoons for about an hour, after which I switched off the ward TV (only Caleb and the old man were there), and we did some school – I read two chapters of Charlotte’s Web, and Aaron did his reading. All the hospital staff were very impressed that Caleb had so willingly spent the night in hospital on his own, and all thought he was very brave. I thought it was pretty normal for Caleb as he’s so independent. Caleb said he spoke to the girl in the bed next to him, who came in late yesterday afternoon, and found out that she lives in Longwood. She didn’t spend the night. At about 9.40 the doctor from Cape Town came to check on him, and listened to his chest and declared him fit to be discharged. She wrote out a prescription which was taken to the dispensary, but I didn’t want to wait for a very long time so called back for the meds later in the day – quite a lot of them! She prescribed a course of steroids to get his chest opened up properly, as well as an antibiotic, and another syrup for coughs and chesty things, AND a bottle of paracetemol (I have so much of that in stock now, it’s standard issue), as well as two sets of nebulising solutions. I didn’t want to start school again when we got home, so we cancelled the rest of it and will catch up next week. The bulk of the work of the last two days is done, and other bits can be easily caught up or slotted in.