What a morning. Josiah had his stim test today at CHLA. He needed to be on an empty stomach, so he was pretty cranky. The test consisted of getting an IV into him, injecting him with a medication, and drawing blood three times. The nurse tried three times to get an IV into him. They couldn't use his left foot because that's where they poked him for his surgery two weeks ago. Since Josiah's veins are incredibly small, she had to poke him and then fish around for the vein. It was really awful holding him down while he kicked and screamed. This obviously didn't help her get the IV in. She had to call in some reinforcements. It was hard because the last time I went through this with him they had blown all of his visible veins on his arms and legs. That's when they put his scalp IV in. This time I just kept praying while she dug around for his veins. It's so hard because it is all out of my hands and you just don't know if or when they will find one that will work.
She eventually found one, but it was in the outer part of his right ankle. He kept kicking and bending his foot, so they had to tape his foot down to a board in a wrong position. It was twisted inwards and taped down. After they finally got the IV taped down, they had to draw blood. No matter how hard she tried, the blood just would not come out. This part was really painful. She ended up taking most of it apart and letting the blood drip into the vials. We needed 4 cc's and you couldn't even see it dripping. One person squeezed his leg to get the blood out, while the other person held the IV and the vial in place. He was screaming the whole time. By the end of it his foot was covered in blood because she couldn't catch it all in the vials.
She drew blood at 0 minutes, 30 minutes, and 60 minutes. So, it didn't last that long. I walked out into the hallway in the middle of it and saw one of my previous student's mom and her brother. What a small world!
We will find out the results in 7-10 days. Hopefully it will say that he doesn't really have low cortisol hormones. That would be such a relief. Thank you for praying for us.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Oh, Teresa. I'm so sorry you have to go through all this. I know that God is good, and he is with you every single step of the way. But being a mother and having to hold your baby through that has got to be so difficult. You are an amazing mommy, and EXACTLY who Josiah needs!
ReplyDeletepoor guy! i remember when they had to draw some blood from hope foot and he couldn't get it out. so he poked her a lot too. i cried and cried. it was so heart breaking for me. but that was only one time versus three times that josiah had to endure. so i can't imagine what you were going through. you and josiah are amazing. i will continue to pray for strength for you guys during this season. and i will be praying for a good result also.
ReplyDeleteoh teresa...what a day. i cringed throughout your whole post. josiah is SUCH a tough guy... GRACE to you during this season. you are in our hearts and thoughts and prayers.
ReplyDeleteYou were right, what a day!!! Poor Josiah. I am glad it's over now. Hopefully you don't have to do it again.
ReplyDeleteanother mom in my group had given me the heads up on how awful blood draws are for babies, and said that it took a number of technicians, she, her husband, and her nursing her daughter to get it done. thank goodness for that little tip - because they tried on conley's wrist on 1 side, and of course he moved so they lost it - so before doing the other arm, i started nursing him as well and that allowed us to get the other one - despite them wiggling around the needle to get it in... ugh. anyway, not sure if that would work for you for any future ones, but it seems to be the way to go! fanny just took her son in for a second attempt after a completely unsuccessful visit - it sounds like speed and precision are key, and not any old phlebotemist should be allowed to poke babies!
ReplyDelete