Thursday, January 10, 2008

Ashton's CT Scan

Tomorrow (Friday) is Ashton's 2nd attempt at a CT scan. The last one was a nightmare. They only sedated her with chloral hydrate, which apparently has the opposite effect on my little sweatpea! So I requested by the neurologist that she put "anesthesia" on this script rather than sedation. The gas mask is our friend! We've done this before for the MRI, same hospital, same anesthesia, same process. So I kind of know how it all goes, but the hard part is not giving her anything to eat or drink from the time she wakes up at 7ish in the morning till NOON! Her appt is at noon, they asked that I have her there by 10:45. I'm hoping they will take her right in and get her to sleep. Otherwise, it could be a nightmare in the making. We kept her up late tonight in hopes that she will sleep late in the morning and not have time to think about food or milk or juice. My only complaint the last time we went through this was that they woke her up in the recovery area BEFORE they sent for me to come back, and she was scared to death, shaking, and crying that blood curdling scream of a cry. As soon as they opened the hallway door, I could hear her. It was awful. So I already requested on the phone that they make note of that and I will tell them again tomorrow, but the nurse said, "I know it's hard on you, but it's good for them to get their lungs clear after the anesthesia." I don't know! Sounds crazy to me. I just want to be the one to wake her up. Is that too much to ask?

I did ask the neurologist when I was there last month to explain the reason for the CT scan in greater detail and she said that it is possible to tell from this type of scan if the skull closed prematurely, even though it does close around 18 months. And that it's not too late to correct that with surgery if that were the case, so her brain could grow some more. And the pediatrician backed that up today when I talked to her. I had to take Ashton in for a physcial today because they wouldn't administer anesthesia without a complete physical in the past 30 days. And I checked her record while she was there....Feb 21st of last year was her last dr. appt with the pediatrician for a sick visit. AMAZING! That's almost a whole year!!!! The doctor even said, "I was beginning to think you guys found a new physician, it's been so long since you've been here!" I said, "Yeah I know, bad for you, good for me that my kids are so healthy right?"

And on a further note, knocking on wood didn't help...Lexi had to have a breathing treatment tonight. Her first time on the nebulizer since the wildfires in May! I knew typing that post the other day about their health was going to jinx me!

3 comments:

Stephanie said...

Okay, I have a little time to blog hop here (with Abby in one arm) and you have so much that I need to read. AllI have time to say is I'm praying the scan went well. The 2 bigger kids are up from their naps so Mommy time is officially over. Mommy Time is up to 30 minutes a day if I don't nap ya know!

A Perfect Pandemonium said...

I hope everything goes well. I'll be praying they take your advise and let you wake her up so she doesn't feel scared and alone!! Let us know how it all goes!

Anonymous said...

just now read this....you have already had the scan.

no one is allowed in the or when there is an anesthesiologist present and anesthesia is given. the recovery always has 2 phases: acute and stepdown. acute is the phase where the anesthesiologists and nurses wait for the patient to wake up. the can/cannot have a breathing tube in place (depending on the type of surgery/procedure). it is a critical time. then once, they are stable, they go to mom and dad. make sense?

i have heard some hospitals allow the parents with the patients in acute, but my hospital doesn't do that. as a nurse and mother, i would rather see my child once they were awake. our hospital takes them to stepdown once they open their eyes un;ess there is an issue. issues have happened before.

glad she is all done with the scan.