Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Thyroid Scan and Sleep Study

We went to TCH yesterday for Justin to drink the contrast liquid for the thyroid scan this morning. We bonded with the other families waiting in the Nuclear Medicine waiting area. It was a small room with lots of people. And Travis was his usual charming self wearing his "worker" outfit, complete with hard hat, tool belt filled with tools, and back pack for the surplus tools that didn't fit in the belt. We met a three-year-old hooked on Starbucks caramel macchiatos, (no lie-in her sippie cup!) a 16-month-old who loves to go to the doctor because he never gets "stickies" like his sister, and an older boy who was bald and did not look like he was having a good day. They all enjoyed playing together and listening to me read some stories.

When it was our turn, Justin did not want to leave the party in the waiting room, but Travis was already turning heads in the exam area. Everyone who passed our room did a double take and one of the older volunteers came and teased Travis by knocking on his hard hat. Justin was not in the mood to drink the liquid he needed to drink so we had to do "two sips and a snuggle" and that helped the medicine go down. It only took about 10 minutes but Travis already decided that he wanted to go back today with Justin.

When we got home we received a phone call that there had been a cancellation for a sleep study and she wanted to know if we could do it. I jumped at the oppportunity, but then I remembered about the thyroid scan. She checked his schedule (no two-year-old should have a "schedule" with the hospital...) and said that he would still be okay to do it because the study ended at 6:30 am and he didn't have the scan until 9:30. Plenty of time! So she had to do some checks and we were good to go! Me-Me and Pop stepped up and took Travis for the night and I raced down to TCH to be there by 6:30 pm. I made it by the skin of my teeth, with a few phone calls for prayers and amazing planning on God's part to make sure my gas tank was full. We rode up in the elevator with another family. The mother warned me about how bad to would be. I was not fazed because I knew that there were TONS of people praying for us!

Our nurse, Fran, was there to greet us and prepare us for what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that I would be able to sleep with Justin, which I knew would help calm him, but the bed was not any bigger than the ones I shared with him during surgery, so I was fairly certain that it would not be a restful night for me. They started applying the probes first to his head. They first measured his head and marked various spots with a grease pencil. Then she placed each probe over one of the spots and taped over it. There were about 20 on Justin's head, face, and chin. Then she moved on and put two probes on each leg to check for leg movement, a pulse ox monitor on his toe, two heart rate monitors, a snore sensor, and two chest straps, one on his abdomen and one on his chest. She then put a stocking cap on his head, like a ski mask except not so thick. It covered his entire head with an opening for his eyes, nose and mouth. The top was open so she cut down the middle and taped it to his head which made him look like he had ears! I know you're going to be mad, but I forgot my camera, so my description and your imagination will have to suffice. The last part was the worst, which was a nasal canula to measure carbon dioxide output with a temperature sensor taped over it. Justin sat very still and watched Barney during this whole process until the canula part. He didn't like that at all, but he was okay once he had a clear path to suck his thumb again. The last thing was to gather all the wires and cover them with a long sock tube and then tighten them with a velcro strap. So Justin looked like his head was tethered to all these different machines. So funny!

We settled down to sleep at about 9 pm and Fran had to come in several times during the night to reattach wayward probes and canulas. The canula came off most frequently, so I am praying that they were able to collect enough data from that part to make the test worthwhile. And Justin flopped and behaved just like at home so I am glad they saw what he does when he sleeps. I didn't sleep much with him crawling all over me and then having to unwind him and reign him in so he wouldn't pull out the probes. His head was on the pillow, and then at the foot of the bed, and then he sat up and plopped his head on my chest. Then he crawled over me and snuggled in my arm pit. I struggled to keep track of him and keep the wires from strangling him!

Fran woke us at 6:10 am and then began the untangling process. So glad it was her and not me! She put some foam on each tape to loosen it up so it wouldn't pull out his hair which made him look like he had soap in his hair with streaks of blue from the grease pencil. Thankfully we were able to shower since I wasn't sure how I was going to explain our appearance for the thyroid scan. (He "shared" some of the foam with me!) Justin enjoyed throwing everything off the bench in the shower, but I prevailed and 20 minutes later we were headed down the elevator and on our way to breakfast with Randy.

Randy came down early to meet us for breakfast. Pretty great, isn't he? Justin enjoyed his first Grand Slam breakfast and we had to cut him off before he ate all the eggs and hash browns. And the whipped cream off my hot chocolate (which I refilled with coffee!) It was a really great way to waste some time before going back for more.

We saw all of our friends back for more in the Nuclear Medicine waiting area. We didn't have to wait as long today, and when we did back, the tech asked about Travis. By name! Makes me laugh! He taped Justin down on the bed and I had to hold his head still while they scanned his thyroid. I sang every song I know, and Justin calmed down really quickly. It was one of the least painless tests we have done! Justin fell asleep on the way home before we even made it to the freeway. Wish I could have too.

Now we wait. I don't know when we will hear anything, but I hope soon! Keep praying!

No comments: