Medically Intensive February

Adeline had the pleasure of spending Valentine's Day in the cardiology clinic at DuPont hospital.  I tried to prepare her for the day by saying that they were going to put stickers on her belly for her EKG.  She thought it was ridiculous to have a doctor put stickers on her belly and completely blew me off.  I knew it was going to be a traumatic experience and tried to tell her about her impending tests.  Instead of really listening, she told me she didn't want to go to the doctor.  That's when I knew it was going to be REALLY bad.

I picked Adeline up from school and we headed to the hospital.  The super cool waiting room was empty so we had some time to play and get comfortable in our surroundings.  When called back, Adeline put on her big brave face, stood on the scale and let them take her height; all things that make her very nervous.  We proceeded to a room and much to Adeline's horror, a blood pressure machine was wheeling in behind us.  That started the screams of, "No squeezy squeezy!"  She hates having her blood pressure taken.  The nurse was great and told Adeline that she could push the button on the machine which, combined with my iphone, made her calm enough to get a reading.  After it was over, Adeline was ready to go.  Too bad we were just getting started.

The nurse arranged to have the EKG and Echo in the same room so we could just get it all knocked out in one round of hysteria instead of two separate ones.  There are kids who cry and don't like the doctor and then there are kids who have true sensory integration issues with medical procedures.  There is a difference.  There is no calming or being rational with these kids.  You just have to pony up and get through it and that is what we did.

The Echo nurse didn't believe me when I told her Adeline was going to be tough.  She let Adeline pick out a movie which seemed like it might work until she had her lay down on the bed.  Adeline blew her top.  She was flailing, growling and gasping for air.  There would be no Echo under these conditions.  Since this isn't new to me, I knew I had to lay flat on the bed and let her lay on top of me.  Once somewhat calm, I knew I had to threaten to get up and make her lay on the bed by herself if she screamed and cried.  To Adeline's credit, she sucked it up the best she could.  She didn't like the gel or the wand moving over her chest.  She was afraid that it was going to be noisy and hurt.  The Belle finally settled in and we got the pictures of the heart that were ordered in between screams of protest.

Here is a picture of my red faced, deflated girl after round one.

Round two was much harder.  I knew she would hate the stickers for the EKG.  Even worse were the cords that connected to the stickers.  I told her they were little pulse ox cords since she has a comfort level with them.  Regardless, she was terrified when they opened up the connectors and clipped them on to the stickers.  She screamed, "Not noisy, not noisy!" with her hands over her ears.  Machines are not her friend.  I restrained her while the nurse administered the test.  Taking the stickers off was almost worse.  It was all enough to make me need a stiff drink and a 12 hour nap!

Somehow, when we walked out of that room to the room where we would meet with the doctor, Adeline knew she was DONE.  She insisted on taking off her gown and putting her undershirt on; an effort to regain some control of her situation.  She was a chatter box, showing everyone we passed her load of Thomas stickers. 

While we waited, Adeline danced around the room for at least 20 minutes.  She was thrilled to be done. Here is a clip of her spin dance and a little bit of our conversation about her appointment.  Funny how once the appointment is over, it really isn't so bad.  She did acknowledge that her behavior was rather beastly.  Turn it up if you want to hear her quiet voice.


When the doctor finally arrived, she kept interrupting me and asking if I would stop talking and let her talk.  The doc gave into her sweet self and let her teach him how to play Angry Birds on my phone.  He thought she was very charming and, needless to say, a medical success!  All reports were normal.

FYI. . . this is what they write in your chart if you scream and cry like a beast!  I'm surprised it wasn't worse.  I guess they know some parents sneak the chart off the door. . .

To top all of this off, we went in for tubes and a bronchoscopy at 6:30 a.m. this morning.  Daddy took her as I had to stay back and get Savannah to school.  Surprisingly, the Belle rocked it.  Miss Adeline even made it back to the OR without the heavily promoted "silly juice."  I'm just not a fan.  It is completely unnecessary.  Adeline let the anesthesiologist carry her back to the OR for what we told her would be a nebulizer treatment.  We didn't tell her she was having a procedure.  She was nervous but prepared for her mask.  She reported that the mask was different from that of a neb.  It only went on her nose, she had to sit on the bed when they put it on and it was bubblegum flavor (still puzzled about flavored air).  Adeline said she cried but that the doctors were nice.  The doctors said she just fussed.  I guess we will never know.

To Adeline's knowledge, her mask made her fall asleep and when she woke up Daddy, was there to hold her.  Soon she was on her way home with drained ears (the doc said she had to have been uncomfortable and that her hearing was compromised) and two fully functional vocal folds!!!  We have been under the assumption that one was partially paralyzed due to her  PDA ligation at 4 weeks old.  The incision site is on the back and often the preemies that undergo the surgery are raspy like Adeline.  Apparently there is a vocal fold nerve that is easily nicked.  While Adeline's voice will always be hoarse, her vocal folds have room for improvement.  I am pretty excited about this!