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The relief in her eyes made him sure he’d done the right thing. ‘Thank you, Dr Morgan. That’d be good.’
He smiled back at her. ‘My pleasure. I’ll be back on the ward in half an hour or so, but take all the time you need. And if anyone needs me, they can bleep me.’
‘I’ll pass the message on to Lynne,’ she promised.
‘See you later,’ he said, and left the ward.
‘Would you like a sandwich or anything, Kevin?’ Katrina asked. ‘Dr Morgan won’t mind if you have a snack or a drink in his office.’
He shook his head. ‘Hurts too much.’
‘I think you need more pain relief. When did you last give him paracetamol, Mrs Lacey?’
The woman whispered something Katrina didn’t catch.
‘I’m sorry, Mrs Lacey, it’s really noisy out here and I can’t hear you properly. Let’s go to Dr Morgan’s office.’ Once she’d established that it had been four hours since Kevin had had any pain relief, she was able to give him more and wrote it up in the notes. She also made sure that both Mrs Lacey and Kevin had a drink, although both refused food.
‘It’s quite a lot to take in,’ she said, ‘so I’ll go over it all again, if that’s all right with you. Kevin’s got a form of anaemia called spherocytosis—what that means is that his red blood cells don’t have their normal covering to hold them in shape and they become sphere-shaped.’ She drew a quick sketch on the whiteboard by Rhys’s desk to show them the difference between a normal blood cell and Kevin’s. ‘Because of their shape, the spleen decides they’re abnormal and destroys them too early—that’s why Kevin’s pale and gets really tired after exercise. It also makes the spleen grow more than normal, which is why you’re getting the pains in your tummy, Kevin.’
‘And it will all go away when the doctor takes my spleen out?’
Clearly the little boy had been listening. She smiled at him. ‘You’ll stop being tired and you won’t have the tummy pains, though unfortunately it won’t make your red blood cells go back to normal.’
‘And then he’ll be all right?’ Mrs Lacey asked.
This time, Katrina was able to hear her. ‘Removing the spleen does cause some problems,’ she said. ‘Without a spleen you’re more likely to pick up infections. Kevin will need to take antibiotics for the rest of his life to help avoid infections, and you need to make sure he gets vaccinated. I can give you a leaflet which will help you spot any signs of infection—if you see them, you need to take him to your GP straight away. He’ll also need to carry a card with him at all times to say he has no spleen; then if he has to go into hospital or needs treatment the medical staff will know what to do.’
‘So will it hurt, having the operation?’ Kevin asked.
‘You’ll be asleep,’ Katrina said, ‘though you might feel a bit sick and dizzy or have a sore throat when you come round from the anaesthetic. It won’t last long, though. It’s going to be a bit more scary for your mum—we’ll need to put a tube in from your nose to your tummy in case you don’t feel like eating or drinking at first, and you’ll also have a drip to give you pain relief.’
‘Does the operation take long?’ Mrs Lacey asked.
‘Somewhere between ninety minutes and three hours,’ Katrina said. ‘You’ll be able to stay with him until he’s had the anaesthetic, and there are plenty of places where you can have a cup of coffee while you’re waiting. He’ll be able to go home in about a week, and because the stitches will dissolve on their own he won’t need to come back to have them removed.’ She smiled at Kevin. ‘You’ll be back to school in a month—but I’m afraid no sport for the next three months.’
‘No football? But…’ He looked dismayed. ‘But I have to play. I’m in the school team.’
‘Sorry, sweetheart. You need time to heal,’ Katrina said. ‘But I bet you you’ll be able to play even better after the operation than you do now, because you won’t get so tired.’ She smiled at Mrs Lacey. ‘Now, I’ll get the surgeon and anaesthetist to come and have a word with you later this afternoon, and they’ll be able to answer any detailed questions you might have about the procedure. But if there’s anything else you want to know, no matter how small it might seem, I’m here to help.’
‘No football for three months.’ Kevin’s lower lip wobbled.
‘It’ll go by really quickly,’ Katrina said. ‘What with Bonfire Night and Christmas coming up, you’ll be ready to play again before you know it.’
