Saturday, March 28, 2009

One down, one to go

James had his EEG yesterday and lets just say it could have been worse. The day started off rainy which made us about 15 minutes late. The receptionist gave me a sheet to fill out and the first question was Has the patient had any thing to drink in the last 6 hours?
My heart immediately jumped in my throat because he had. He had also had a hand full of cheerios and half a nutri-grain bar on the way there. As calmly as possible, I told the nurse that no one told me not to let him eat or drink before hand. As nicely as she could, she told me she was certain she had told me that information because there is chance of aspiration while sleeping if they have had something to eat or drink 6 hours before given the medicine. I was on the verge of total hysteria at this point. Thank goodness Jon was there since he has the gift of what I call "silver tongue"! He persuaded her to find out if we could please come back later in the day since he had taken a day off work for this test. We went back out in the waiting room and about 10 minutes later she came out and said we could come back at noon. Whew, talk about relief! I couldn't bare the thought that we would have to postpone this test for another day because of an incompetent mother! Perhaps I should have known that this was procedure for all types of sedation tests, but I didn't. I have been over our conversation a thousand times in my mind and for the life of me I cannot remember her telling me no food, no drink. I don't want to point fingers since these people contact parents and give orders for tests on a daily basis but I just can't figure out why I would remember "Keep him up late the night before and wake him up early the morning of" and not remember "NO FOOD, NO DRINK or we can't do the test because your baby could choke to death." Thank God it all worked out and I learned a valuable lesson that I shall not soon forget!
We headed off to the mall for a few hours to keep James entertained so he wouldn't fall asleep.(he'd been up since 6:30 and had to stay awake until 12:00) I felt so bad when he started saying "nummy, nummy, nummy" with out even seeing any food. Jon and I were starving and so thirsty at this point but we couldn't bare to eat and drink in front of the poor little guy! James had a blast being the center of attention for a change and the time went by much faster than we thought it would. Once we got back to the hospital(that's where the doctor's office is)they took us right back and gave James his medicine which he was so excited to get. He loves medicine and he slurped it down, probably because he was so thirsty, and then his eyes got all watery and his face turned red. The nurse then tells us that this "medicine" is 95% alcohol! No wonder he looked like he was gonna throw up! It only took about 10 minutes for him to fall asleep(or pass out in a drunken stupor!) and took another 15 minutes for the nurse to hook all the electrodes to his scalp. He barely moved the whole time she was poking and prodding and I was thinking "Oh this will be great! He wont have any problem staying asleep for the 20 minutes of monitoring. HAHA! Yeah right mom! Almost 10 minutes into it (about the time she turned the strobe light on)he woke up sca-reaming and letting out some of the stankiest gas ever. I guess the "medicine" didn't agree with his empty stomach. Poor guy. I tried and then Jon tried to get him to go back to sleep but it wasn't happening. Especially when he spotted all the Nemo's on the wall! The nurse said that sometimes 10 minutes is all they can get and sometimes it's all Dr. Ayala needs. And since he his having an MRI done also, he probably wont have to have another EEG. Let's hope not anyway! Little dude was sooooo sleepy but he just would NOT go back to sleep. That goop was nasty that the electrodes had to be attached with and it left him looking like Albert Jr.!
He will go on Thursday, April 2, for his MRI. And rest assured I will be asking as many questions as my little brain can think of this time. I can only handle feeling like the worlds worst mother once a week!
We have been very encouraged this week by the progress bubba is making. A few weeks ago he would only take 3 steps at a time and his left leg would only take one of the three. But this week he's gradually been taking more and more and Friday night (of course while I was gone) he walked almost all the way across his room! He is able to keep his balance much better even though he is still on his tip toes on that left foot. But once he can get his left foot to go down he'll be in bidness!!! The Lord's blessings are abundant in his little life! Yesterday was kinda tough but the Lord still blessed and we're glad it's behind us. To quote a dear brother from home, "When you pray, remember us."

7 comments:

Sydney Sanders said...

aw so sweet Mannio! Lovin' the pictures! They've developed such character :) too too cute

Rhonda said...

The twins are as cute as ever! Please do not beat up on yourself regarding misunderstanding instructions. Employees in doctors' offices have been known to make mistakes! I will continue to pray for each of you as you walk this path......

Dianne said...

'manda, you are one the most "on it" mothers for the short time you've been in this role I've ever known. You're so sensitive to your children and their needs and their personalities. Yes, ma'am, nurses and doctors get it wrong, sometimes.

Enjoyed your "take" on this experience with James. Glad Jon could be with you. Most of all, glad GOD is with you all each step of the way...

His Mercy Endureth Forever said...

We are praying for that little man! We know the Lord will watch over him. And please don't feel bad about the whole "food/drink" thing! We all have done stuff like that! Brady is 6 now and I could probably spend the next week telling you about the flubs I've made and it still wouldn't be enough time. There is always so much information the Dr.'s office give out, I'm really suprised they didn't have some kind of print out for you! We are praying for you all!

Amber said...

What did I tell ya about that goop? It's NASTY! :)

And I really do think that they didn't tell you about the no food/drink because that is something that you definitely remember when someone says because you instantly think "How in the world am I going to do THAT?!" This is the first of many times that you will be exasperated with the breakdown in communication during this process. Did you hear that we found out from the cardiologist that Nate had an ASD...a YEAR after the echo??? I'm still shaking my head about that one. Thankfully it closed up.

Anyway (I guess all of this should have gone in an email), don't beat yourself up about the hard start to the appt...the miscommunication happens quite often.

When do you get results?

Emily said...

So, I guess what you're getting at is that you could think of better ways to spend your Friday? ;)

Glad it all worked out though and hope this week's appt goes a little smoother for you.

LOVE all the pics!

Becky said...

Pretty sure that picture of James with the book is my favorite picture ever...second only to the Alfred, Jr.
Thanks for trying to call first! I saw it, but couldn't get it. LOVE!