planet stress

actually it's tomato soup with a flash but I had a pretty horrible day and that's what it felt like.

Luckily I phoned my sister and even though she's having a far harder time of it (god-dotter was in hospital for hernia op) she stops to listen to me moan and genuinely I get a grip.

She tells me about Nat's week. The hospitals are great with kids now. The consultant had play-acted out what to expect at the pre-op appointment and they had left with scrubs and special "Mary goes to the hospital" colouring book to play with. On the day itself they were led to a waiting room with loads of really good toys and while it was hard to not eat or drink all day for her parents, Nat was too busy to bother much. At three she just loves playing with other kids and played happily with another wee blonde girl the same age. Just before they had to leave my sister got into conversation with her playmate's parents. Like Nat she had had a bad flu before Christmas and been taken in overnight. Unlike Nat they had then found out she had leukaemia and had been in for nine operations since. Neither the parents nor the little girl complained a jot about this, even though it had meant moving down from up north and a real rollercoaster of procedures and tests they have to anaesthetise young kids to perform.

shook me out of my glum moaning pretty sharpish...