Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Finally back home

This seemed like a very long day. I was hoping the kids would sleep in a little so Sydnee wouldn't feel like she didn't get to eat for so long. She was able to have clear liquids from 5:30am to 11:30 am, but nothing solid. Simon and I ate breakfast at 11:15 so she drank a bottle of gatorade during that time. At least she didn't feel as hungry. We got to the hospital early (12:30). Her appointment was at 1:30. They took us back within 10 minutes and started talking to her about what she was getting done. They were hoping that she would do the MRI without sedation, but I questioned whether that would work.

Nurse Katie

Katie (nurse) came in and went through a storybook about MRI's and then had her listen to a CD of the noise the machine makes. The anesthesiologist told her they would go to a toy room for her to pick out any toy she wanted if she could do it without going to sleep. Sydnee's response was "no thank you". Polite, but not the answer they were looking for. They took her in there and went through box after box. But she didn't want anything. They bribed her every way they could, but nothing enticed her. Finally she said she was ready to get started. As soon as they asked her to walk into the room, it was over. Her whole body started shaking and she had no intentions of walking over that threshold. She grabbed my leg and it was over. Ten more minutes of enticing, and nothing. So out came the IV. She was fine with it. They put in two lines and she cried. That's when it hit Simon that this wasn't what he wanted to hear. So he started gently kicking each person in the room.

He has a hard time showing his feelings in any way other than a direct hit. When he gets uncomfortable with a situation, he locks up into defense mode. For a child who wants to argue with his sister 70% of the time, he hates to hear her cry from pain or fear. The worse part is that it's only me. I then have to comfort her in her ordeal going on at the time and then keep an eye on him to not hurt someone, turn over a table or tray, not turn over a trash can, etc. The little tazmanian devil can wake up and be there before you know it.

In the end a nurse took him to a room where we could see him, put in a movie, gave him juice and graham crackers and a chair that spins. He is now in heaven. Sydnee started to fall to sleep. Nearly an hour later, she is back in the room and his movie is nearly done. All is well. She chugged a cup of water (very unusual for her) and they put her in my lap to rock and covered her with a blanket. I take advantage of those moments. Sydnee hasn't ever been much of a cuddler, so that was good for me. 20-30 minutes later, she was in a wheel chair and on her way out.

They say I will know results in 24-48 hours from the neurologist. Pray for negative. They aren't looking for anything in particular. Just a reason for her right sided weakness.

I guess tomorrow will be a catch up day. I have a retreat coming up on Jan 9 that needs payments posted from customers. So I have to get that worked on so I know who needs to send balances in. This is one of our larger ones. There are a lot of details to tend too.

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