Wednesday, October 24, 2007

CT Scan

Ashton had an appointment today for a CT scan of her skull. The reason for the scan is that at her last appointment with the neurologist, the doctor couldn't find her soft spot on her head. So in order to make sure the skull hadn't fused together too soon, she wanted us to have this done. And if you want more background info on why Ashton sees a neurologist, you can read about it here and here. So she had to fast for 6 hours, therefore this particular facility only schedules children in the morning hours because it's too hard for them to fast during the day. That makes sense but they also wanted her to be sleep deprived. THAT, does NOT make sense. Sleep deprived first thing in the morning? Now, I am sleep deprived in the mornings, but the children are not! So she went to bed a little late last night and got up early this morning, and hasn't had a nap in like a week! I don't know how much more sleep deprived I could have made her to be, but apparently it wasn't enough. Because after 2 hours and a maximum dose of sedatives, we were sent home WITHOUT a CT scan!

And that was 2 hours of hell. For me and for her. She was SO drunk on drugs. Poor thing, she couldn't hold her head up, she was running into everything, her eyes were rolling back in her head, and yet she wouldn't GIVE UP! Have you ever seen a chicken after their head is cut off? That's what she reminded me of. She was SO delirious and incoherent and had no muscle control at all, but she was still ALL OVER the room! Finally after like an hour of torture for both of us, the doctor let me take her for a car ride. And she was out in like 2 seconds. So I took her back in and laid her back on the table which woke her up and then she screamed for the next 10 minutes until they finally said to go ahead and leave and reschedule. I don't know why they think next week will be any different.

I'm not sure I'm going back to this clinic. It was a Healthsouth clinic and I've had more luck with procedures like this at an actual hospital. They can use the gas, which is quick and easy and a sure thing. There's no chance of her waking up during the procedure and seeing the scary looking machine.

So I reckon we'll try again next week. I have to trust that either there was a reason God was protecting her from this today, maybe a technician who didn't know what they were doing or a quirk in the machine, or something, OR He's just really trying to teach me patience. And today certainly tested me! A two year old who wants to be independent and can't understand why she can't just get down and walk to the elevator or the car on her own but can't go one step without falling down...NOT FUN! She was screaming and squirming to get out of my arms the whole time but I was trying to protect her from getting hurt because she couldn't even walk! UGH! Glad that's over.

Next week, Daddy's going too!

4 comments:

Stephanie said...

What a horrible experience. I'm sorry you guys had to go through all that and they didn't even get the scan done. Don't they know even sleep deprived children can get their second wind in nothing flat?

Mel :-) said...

Sorry to hear that! She must feel miserable!! I think gas might be a better option since the sedative just didn't do it. Hopefully you will have better luck next week. Having Daddy there will help too!

Jess Marie said...

Sorry to hear about this! That stinks. Keep us posted. We'll pray next week is better.

Anonymous said...

ok - this is just weird to me.

first, can you go to a children's hospital where they use the sedative as a pre op med to ease separation anxiety for the child and then use anesthetic gases to have her asleep just long enough to do the scan and let her wake up and have clear fluids? that is what we do for our kids at the hospital. if they want to try to do it on their own sleep deprived, great...if they need a little help from anesthesia, even better.

second, could Dr. Mann help you....call the place you are having the scan and see if they would do something else at his suggestion? just a thought. sometimes, docs can do that...make a call and voilaa!

third...i am confused...why is the doctor trying to feel a softspot on a two year old? the posterior fontanel closes at about 6 months of age and the anterior fontanel closes at about 12-18 months. there is concern if the fontanels close before those ages. they usually just watch them at that point. her head looks perfectly shaped. did she have a fontanel close early or was it not closed past 18 months? those could be reasons they are watching the fontanels. but, normal time for closing is 12-18 months.

this is your anatomy & physiology lesson for the day.

hope when you reschedule the experience is better. could you request afternoon time and do solids at 7 am and clear liquids until 11am and do the scan at 1pm and sleep deprive and do it during nap time when she would be tired? just another thought.

your confused nurse friend. mom2iande