We arrived at 7:45 for our 8am appointment in the Rapid Treatment Unit at PCMC. We registered and were surprised to be escorted to a hospital room within seconds. The room came equipt with a very clean bathroom, a tv that I didn't get to use, a sink, all kinds of monitors, and a hospital grade crib that slightly resembled the kind of cold white metal crib you see in horror movies. Except these cribs have drop down sides and the ability to tilt upwards. Noah was placed in the crib as a very friendly nurse named Debby began to take his temp, blood pressure, and all the other base line states she needed. This was the easy part and tricked me into thinking that the whole day was going to go quick and be a breeze. Boy could I have not been any wronger. It was a comedy of errors type of day where everything that could go wrong DID go wrong.
First the doctor was running late so they could not start until they got signed off by this doctor. So much for scheduling the earliest appointment thinking we could get started early. She finally arrived but then decided she should call the endocrinologist to "make sure" they were getting all the tests he really wanted. Which was a responsible thing to do but also allowed the endo doc to add on a few more tests with extra time consuming instructions. The order was signed off on and it was then that Debby was able to stick my baby with a sharp needle to get his IV in his arm. One quick poke and it would all be good to go and I could turn on the tv for an hour and we would be on our way (well so I thought). Debby couldn't get the IV in. Noah was screaming at this point because she had to poke his left arm then his right arm and just couldn't find a good enough vein in his chubby little arms. She decided to call in the blood sucking professionals and an entire hour later two phlebotomists came in for round two of he Noah torture session. 40 minutes later, with about six unsuccessful attempts, some blood on the sheets, and Noah's eyes swollen from tears and an IV was finally in. It was around poke 4 where I started to notice my own tears coming down my face and was about to scream for them to stop as my sweet Bobaloo had almost passed out from the pain. You have no idea how hard it was for me to thank the blood suckers as they left. I was just so thankful that an IV was finally in and we could just get this stupid test over with.
Unbeknownst to me, Debby could not actually order the mediation needed for the test until after the IV was in and ready. So it was at this time that she ordered the shot from the pharmacy and then it was another waiting game for them to finally make the stupid thing.....1.5 hours later! She let me hold him during this waiting time and I was able to rock Noah and kiss him and holding him next to my heart. I am trying to just focus on this part because this was the good part. I sang Elmo songs and hushed him as he was still trying to calm down from crying. We needed this 1.5 hours as much as I wished we could have just walked out of there instead. It gave us both time to relax and calm down and just be mommy and son.
The medication was finally administered into his IV after two viles of blood had been extracted beforehand to mark a baseline of his blood levels. The shot was filled with a generic low grade ACTH drug. ACTH is the hormone needed to signal the pituitary gland to release cortisol. Cortisol in turn is the hormone that tells the other adrenal glands (kidneys and such) to to their specific jobs. If Noah's pituitary gland isn't working like it should then this test will basically tell us that Noah will need cortisol injections to help him grow healthy.
30 minutes after the ACTH was administered Debby came in to collect another vile of blood to mark as the "30 minute marker" to compare to the original blood drawn first. Another blood pressure reading was needed and that meant another round of her trying to find a cuff to fit Noah and also me maneuvering him all over the place so that an actual reading could be recorded. It is very hard for them to get pressure readings off of Noah for some reason. It was also at this time where we were informed that Noah needed to have a urine sample taken to test for Diabetes Insipidus. He has been tested for this in the past so I felt comfortable with this test. They had to put a plastic bag around his manhood to collect the sample. Thankfully they didn't need to do a catheter. This time however they had to use this sticky tape to secure the bag around his manhood to keep it in place. Last time Noah peed the second his diaper came off so the nurse was able to just collect it without securing the bag to him. So there he has with one arm braced straight with an IV inserted and tape keeping everything in place. He had one foot bandaged from an IV attempt as well as another blue bandage securing the heart monitor to his big toe. Then he had three different Leeds taped to his chest to monitor his saturation levels and other things. Then on his other foot he had his name tag secured to his ankle and another IV attempt band-aid. I felt so bad for him lying there and I couldn't hold him at this point. Debby did bring in a musical crib toy and that seemed to really help Noah feel at peace for a bit of time. It played one tune over and over and in the beginning I found it soothing but now it is branded in my brain as the soundtrack to Nurses who Torture Noah!
Another 30 minutes went by and the last and final blood draw was taken for the test. We were done! Thank you God!
Spoke too soon I guess...or maybe God didn't like me shouting out his name that way. We were then told we had to wait 60 minutes as an "observation period" to make sure Noah didn't have any kind of reaction to the ACTH. They could have preped me for this earlier. It was now past noon, I was starving, Noah was starving since he had to fast for this test, I had to call work where my wonderful boss just told me to take the day off since I originally thought it was only going to take two hours like they told me it would. Noah was exhausted and so was I. He started to slip into dreamland and I took this opportunity to give him a bottle now that I had the go ahead. It took me 40 minutes to get in 5 ounces due to monitors going off and beeping and waking him up. My arms were throbbing from having to bend on the crib frame to feed him and to also secure his head from falling to one side or the other since I had to elevate the bed to give him his bottle. As soon as he was fed I sat down on the Asparagus colored vinyl chair and must have dozed off for a few minutes because I was startled awake by Noahs monitor going off for the 100th time. Nothing to worry about...just a Leed not reading correctly.
Debby finally returned to us at 1:25 to "release" us from the hospital. She then proceeded to give Noah round three of the torture session but kept replaying the music to hopefully keep him calm. She was being very careful and was trying her hardest to make it easy for him but ripping off tape, unplugging the IV, cleaning off the sticky tape glue, and slowly ripping off the urine sample bag in such a sensitive area was just more pain that Noah could bare. Screamfest 2012 happened and I was sure he was going to puke out all of his bottle on me. She couldn't let us officially go until she got one last blood pressure cuff reading and with me trying to calm Noah down at the same time just didn't work. I was at least able to pick him up and rock him and bounce him and kiss him and sing to him and it was then when he finally started to calm down...just enough for the pressure cuff to then squeeze his calf and get him going again with more tears. Poor little guy had enough and I didn't blame him one bit.
We walked out the hospital doors at 2:00pm. SIX hours later! Noah fell asleep on the way home and then woke up when I had to stop at a McDonalds to get myself some quick calories. Thankfully my mom surprised us with a visit to our house where I was able to eat my thigh hugging fries as she got Noah to coo and babble and smile. I am so thankful to have such a wonderful Mom who is always there when I need her and always knows when I need her too. She even came with yummy heart lifting chocolate in hand. She left to go back home and Noah and I went to cuddle on my bed where we both fell into a very deep sleep until Jeremy got home and then he spoiled us for the rest of the night :)
So thankful this day is in the past. I am finally over it and was just now able to relive it all one last time to write this post. As soon as my fingers stop typing I am going to delete this memory from my mind and make room for a very happy one that I am sure we are going to experience this weekend :)
........test results are in but the doctor hasn't been able to write his report so I will have to wait for him to call me next week I am sure.
JUST IN: ALL RESULTS CAME BACK WITHIN NORMAL RANGE! No worries at this time for any form of adrenal problems. Endo doc wants to test his thyroid with a quick lab blood draw the end of October. GREAT NEWS!
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