TERRIBLE Day

  This is certainly going down as my husband's worst birthday ever. We did not schedule the procedure today on purpose. We do not get much say in the scheduling of these things. We were supposed to have the sedated ABR test today. It was supposed to be a pretty easy little test where E would be put to sleep and then they would take about an hour to record brain activity. Easy peasy, right? WRONG!

  My little guy was such a trooper. He had not had anything to eat for six hours, he was due for a nap, and he was still a happy little ball of sunshine. He laughed and played with all the doctors and nurses. He smiled and looked curiously at them as they applied tourniquets and poked around looking for veins. He even let them hold him down on the table to start the IV with no fussing. Then, they poked him. That's when my heart broke. He stopped crying and I thought they were done. They weren't done. They didn't get  it. They tried again. They tried a third time. They called in an anesthesiology resident. He didn't get it. They called in the transport team (the folks who have to be awesome because they're doing IVs in the back of a bumpy ambulance in emergency situations). The transport team didn't get it either. They called the nurse called, "the best 'stick' in the hospital." She failed too. I was standing outside the room in the hall. I could not take it at all. I could not watch them poke and prod my screaming little boy. As soon as I saw them fail yet again, I would rush in and pick him up and snuggle and cuddle him. His dad was having to be the bad guy and help hold him down each attempt. I chose not to be around when they were doing that so that when I got to hold him, he felt like there was SOMEWHERE safe. We were both a wreck. I apparently looked like enough of a distraught mess that the janitor even came up to hug me and said she would be praying for me.

  They tried seven times to start the IV. They even tried twice in his scalp. They said we were in that catch-22 situation where he wasn't allowed to have food 6 hours prior and no liquids 4 hours prior. His veins were just not dilated enough. They decided to stop for the day and try again with an anesthesiologist that could administer gas sedation. He was on vacation at the moment. Apparently, in this BIG hospital with a GIANT pediatric unit that is supposed to be so prestigious, there is only one guy that can do this. We now have to wait until he can see us which will be no earlier than April 8th. No, that doesn't mean we go back on the 8th, it means that is when he will be back from his vacation. Who knows at that point how backed up he will be and when he can finally get around to us. The audiologists said they will be really pressing him to see us though since time lost in this situation can be a big deal.

  Once we were back home, E was happily playing like nothing ever happened. He will have some lovely bruises and I will be afraid to take him out in public for fear that people will call DSS. Don't forget the lovely purple one already developing right on his forehead from where they tried that one! Tad and I are tired. We are emotionally and physically tired. We are hurt, confused, and frustrated. If you are reading this and are upset that we didn't call you directly on the phone, please understand that we are all used up at the moment and do not wish to talk. We are also quite angry and cannot bring ourselves to muster up any sugar or spice, so it is probably best that we just keep to ourselves until the clouds clear. Thank you all in advance for your continued prayers, support, and understanding.

  Oh...and just so you know...we have decided to have "mulligan" birthday since this one turned out so incredibly nasty. We have decided to reschedule my husband's birthday for next week.