Went for a walk with husband and kids yesterday, up the peak via old peak road, po shan road and hatton road. Swung by pinewood battery and roamed around - a couple of families having a barbecue but apart from that surprisningly deserted. Along the way we had been picking up litter - we had two 'mechanical claws' about the length of a walking stick, which we picked up in Jusco and seemed to be designed for this purpose. As usual, plenty of empty and not so empty plastic bottles, empty and not so empty packets of tissue paper, bits of candy wrappers lying in some cases just inches away from bins. We had two carrier bags that had to be emptied three times during our walk.

Had a very late lunch in the Cafe Deco which was as reliable as I had remembered it. Walked back down to Garden Road after that. All in all we walked for about 2.5 hours and when we got home J crashed out on the sofa straightaway. He woke after about 2 hours and said he felt unwell, which I ignored, thinking he was just being dramatic about his tiredness.

Sent him off to bed after some low level comforting. An hour later he came out, sobbing, saying he couldn't breathe. Normally I would just give him some panadol and pack him off to bed but last night when I put my hand on his chest I scared myself when I felt a noticeable protusion on his chest. It was as if his sternum has been stretched out by his lungs, which was obviously struggling. B said "right, hospital!" straightaway and off we went.

I am very impressed with the public hospital - we went to the Alice Ho Nethersole Hospital - we arrived around 11:30. A nurse saw us about 15 mins. later, and immediately J was put on oxygen as the O2 level in his blood was low. A doctor saw him within another 15 mintues, said he needed a chest x-ray, and needed to be admitted after that. He said J would need to stay at least 2-3 days. It took about 30 mins to get the x-ray done. And within another hour of that we were in the paediatrics ward, seen by nurse and doctor, and led to his bed, strapped onto monitors.

Everyone we encountered throughout the whole process was polite, pleasant (I could see them smiling even behind their surgical masks), professional, and efficient.

B stayed the night at the hospital or what was left of it, and I took over this morning at 7. Throughout today J was regularly seen by nurses, all of whome were incredibly nice. He was seen by two different doctors, morning, noon, mid-afternoon, and late afternoon - each time giving clear explanations of what they thought was going on. It's a borderline asthmatic attack - something he's never had before - only God knows what triggered it but I am partial towards blaming the pollution - it was bad yesterday and even worse today.

There were four kids in the ward including J. Two women from Red Cross came by and played games with all the kids (apart from one who was severely disabled) and helped them with their homework (yes, apparently the kids still do their homework whilst hospitalised - I ended up helping one girl with her seven items of homework which her grandma dropped off TODAY after the Red Cross people left). One of them sat down for a full hour with one of the kids making a bunny out of a flannel, all the while seeming to be thoroughly enjoying it! As J wasn't interested in the games they offered nor had any homework, they let him choose some books from a pile and chit chatted. Later on a chaplain swung by, chit chatted, and dropped off some leaflets.

(If club med runs hospitals this is what it will probably look like - even the food wasn't half bad and the prices are 'all inclusive'!)

B took over at 6pm it's now time for me to get my arse off this seat and take the nightshift. J's off the oxygen now, hopefully can be discharged tomorrow.