Another day, another IV

10-18-13 9:30am

Today Abigail is supposed to get an MRI today just to be sure that there is no structural connection to the stronger a-symmetry from the left side of the brain shown on the EEG. The nurse just came in and said that she will get it today, but since the nurse practitioner that was supposed to be the one to sedate her didn't have the right "qualifications" to deal with her disorder and reflux issues they had to call in the big guns-an anesthesiologist-but since that change has occurred the MRI would be pushed back to whenever the big dog has a minute to squeeze her in. So now we just wait. Abigail has been sleeping all morning-she hasn't had too many seizures yet, which is good, but I'm surprised she's still sleeping. She did wake up angry at 4:00am, she was really warm and was sweating pretty good we took her blanket off and adjusted her position in bed. The nurse checked her temp-it was 37ish•C-about 98.6•F. Since she was awake the nurse decided to check her vitals and flush her IV to keep it good for the IV in the morning. She noticed during the flush that it seemed to be painful to Abigail and that her arm (that had the IV) looked bigger than her other arm. After talking to another nurse they determined the IV had infiltrated and was no longer good-so they called the IV team in--booger! Took them 5 pokes to finally get this one in! It went in the foot and was very "positional" meaning if her foot wasn't straight/pointed it would become "occluded"..if and when that happened the machine would beep and all we had to do was straighten or point her foot and all would be well-so after waking up hot, she got bugged with vitals-then had to get poked over and over-it makes perfect sense that she would still be sleepy..but not necessarily this late

    It's very bittersweet to me that's she's still sleeping because she hasn't really eaten since 4:00am (she had *maybe* an ounce of apple juice around 6 but because the MRI was scheduled to be earlier she wasn't allowed to eat milk past 4am and clear liquids past 8am). I would figure if she woke up now she'd be starving but I couldn't feed her because we don't know when she will get in..but I also don't love that she's so sleepy..but I hope she stays sleeping until I can get her fed so she's not so uncomfortable. 

10-18-13 12:40pm

The anesthesiologist just came and talked me through what was going to happen and had me sign the consent forms. I love getting to work with anesthesiologists just because my bro-in-law is in his second year of residency for anesthesiology-so it's fun to picture Tim doing what these guys are doing. The anesthesiologist we got had been doing this for 35years! 

10-18-13 1:00pm

Time to take Abigail down to get her MRI! I can go down and watch them sedate her but then they kick me out until time to go feed her after all is done. It will take about an hour they said. Now we just wait.

10-18-13 2:30pm

Abigail slept all the way until after the MRI! I mean, they did sedate her during it-but idk they would have needed to with how well she was sleeping! Haha darnet! It was kinda funny-she was totally calm and still until they put the mask on her with the anesthesia-she did not want to breathe in that nasty smelling stuff! Haha she was still sleeping (well-her eyes were closed) but she was fighting them pretty hard! She's so opinionated! I think that's great! The three there working with her were very funny, and nice, and just down to earth overall. I told them she's a fighter and she knows what she wants (or doesn't want) they laughed and said "we usually win"-that made me giggle. They told me about this one 8 year old boy though that did NOT want it and they almost didn't win against him! They said it took like 4 of them to get him down. Haha-eventually Abi have up surrendered to the medicine. Once she was asleep that's when I was told that was where we spilt and they'd call me when she was done (which she is now). I went during that hour to visit Perrin and his family. He looks wonderful after his surgery-they say he's pretty swollen-but as to be expected after a surgery like that! 

Oh, yeah! When she got back to the room the nurse told me that during the whole thing the IV in her foot when bad and they had to place another one! She just got one last night! I swear she's had to get a new IV every other day since we've been here! That was seriously her 5th or 6th IV since we've been here, including the one we showed up with..I can't even remember exactly with how many there have been! I know for sure she's had one in each hand, each foot, and an elbow-now in her hand again..so I think 6. Hence "another day, another IV"

10-18-13 3:30pm

Up to this point Abigail has eaten just fine and been awake and doing great. Since the MRI was done so late and they wanted to be able to watch her a little longer they decided to keep her one more night here in the hospital, just to be sure. So we will stay one more day. 

10-18-13 4:30pm

MRI results are in-there is nothing showing structurally wrong with her brain-everything is very AbiNormal. Her brain is a little smaller than an average 9 months old brain would be and there is less myelination than an average 9 month old brain would have-but is right on for where Abi is-it is very AbiNormal-so that's good! We are still staying here for the night though. 

No worries-that makes me feel good knowing she is in good hands one more night. But there is no reason we won't get out tomorrow!

This is AbiNormal

Anesthesiologist and techs pre-MRI