I am writing at the tail end of nap time today, so essentially, I am writing on borrowed time! This will be quick, no doubt. But I wanted to let you all that Ellie's tests went as well as could be expected yesterday. I was completely optimistic from the start, when we were called back precisely at 2pm (our exact appointment time). That never happens! And my optimism continued when Ellie laid on the exam table as still and as happy as could be for her renal ultrasound. She was an angel! She happily nibbled on her binkie while the technician searched around on her belly for those teeny-tiny kidneys of hers. She held tightly to the cord of his ultrasound wand and watched him with wide-eyed wonder for the entire procedure (which was only about 15 minutes.) She hardly moved a muscle!
From the ultrasound room, the tech showed us to the x-ray room, where we would spend the next hour. The x-ray tech was super sweet and chatty, and asked about my family and such as she prepared her things for the test. We had to wait about 20 minutes before we even saw the nurse who would be placing Ellie's catheter, and my sweet, happy child who was woken up early from her nap and who hadn't eaten in several hours was quickly starting to wear thin. She was pretty antsy by the time the nurse arrived and we laid her on the exam table to place the catheter. I was still pretty optimistic though at this point, as I remembered that the straight catheter they had to do in Dr. Mailander's office a few weeks ago didn't seem to bother Ellie much. I figured (hoped) it would be much the same today too. But it wasn't. :( From the moment we laid her down and the nurse began placing the catheter to the moment she was finally dressed and ready to leave, Ellie wailed, bucked and thrashed. :( At first, I'm certain that the catheter placement hurt her (they had to do it twice too) and then, she just became so angry that we were holding her still on that cold, hard table that she would not be consoled. Poor, sweet child! She was drenched from head to toe in sweat by the end, and her face was swollen and blotchy from tears. :( I felt horrible for her and did all I knew to do to comfort her, but nothing short of leaving would help. So, she wailed for the 45 minutes it took to run the exam and I sang and caressed and patted her throughout. I was relieved (as I'm know Ellie was too) when it was finally all over.
As I whisked her off the exam table and back into my arms, I felt tears threaten my eyes and a lump begin to form in my throat. I'm one to stay pretty calm in situations like that, even with my own children and I get through it by staying focused on helping to do whatever it takes to get the job done as quickly as possible. But I surprised even myself with the rush of emotion that swept over me when the test was finally done. I kept it together though. No tears from me...surprise, surprise. LOL! I just felt horrible for my precious girl! I had never seen her in such a state...so completely upset! I hope we don't have to go through that again! I was told that the results should be available to our pediatrician in about 4 days, so I will give her office a jingle on Monday to see what I can find out. I still am feeling pretty certain that everything will come out clear, but we'll see. The technicians and the radiologist kept a pretty tight lip during the procedures (as I know they are required to do) so I have no clue whether or not they saw anything of interest. So...we will wait and see. I'll post again when I know more. You'll probably see me here again before then though. I hear Luke's pattering of feet upstairs as I type, so I can officially say nap time is now over. Thanks for checking in and lifting Ellie up in prayer yesterday! I appreciate it more than you know!
2 comments:
From one mother (and friend) to another, who has seen her small child in excruciating pain and inconsolable for large periods of time, I empathize with you. One of the things that got me through those types of procedures was knowing that they will not have a recollection of it when they're older, and since the pain/discomfort is temporary for them, it can be for you too. (Of course prayer and knowing that the Lord has a plan, helped too). Glad that it is over and will pray for no more procedures like that in her future.
Ohhhhh yes... that lump and stinging tears as fresh as FRIDAY for me makes me get a little weepy reading your blog. But not only because of my memory but of thinking of our blonde, big-blue-eyed-girl being so upset! You did great, Mama. And it WOULD have been okay for you to cry. ;) Big hugs.
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