On Friday, December 19, Sadie had an ABR(auditory brainstem response), ASSR(cochlea processing), and hearing test all under IV sedation.
The day sucked. The weekend wasn't much better.
We arrived at the hospital at 9:30am. As usual, we head to the registration department so Sadie can be admitted to the hospital. She was given a hospital bracelet, we have to confirm her name and birthday because they are sedating her for the testing. Her little tummy was growling in the waiting room because she wasn't able to eat or drink before the sedation.
By 10 we were escorted to an exam room where her vitals were taken. The nurses, one by one, start to come in and ask us questions to get prepped for the testing and IV. The doctor comes who is monitoring Sadie during the sedation to ask more questions. Usually the same questions are always asked. I'm starting to feel like a robot answering... It takes 3 nurses, me at her head, and Bill holding her head, and the IV nurse to pin her down in the blanket burrito to get the IV in her hand. It is aweful!
She is given 3 doses of the sedation med each in 5 minute intervals. She finally stops fighting everything that is happening to her and she falls asleep while I rock her in my arms. I again feel overwhelmed at all the testing she goes through. Overwhelmed for her and for me.
Bill and I go down the hall to the cafeteria where we text our family that she is under sedation now. We were told the testing could take about an hour possibly an hour and a half. We quickly eat because I want to be in the waiting room the second she comes out of sedation.
After an hour, the nurse gets us from the waiting room and we rush the 20 feet to the small recovery area. Sadie is thrashing on the table with her eyes closed. Two nurses are attempting to calm her. It is near impossible. I take her in my arms and I can barely hold her. Finally, I have to sit and Bill has to sit in front of me so that we can both hold her together. She is acting like a caged animal. She is throwing herself back and arching so hard. The nurse is concerned about her reaction coming out of sedation and the doctor comes to say that some children do act like that. He says it may take two to three hours for her to snap out of it. The recovery nurse suggests we put her in her stroller because that sometimes calms children. We do as she suggests and we start walking laps around the testing area. By the second time around, she is interested in drinking her juice and munching a graham cracker. She has to do this before they will discharge her. We walk around a few more times and the nurse says we can take the IV out and go home.
She reminds me that Sadie is "drunk" from the sedation and because she is a wobbly walker anyway that we should keep a close eye on her. That turned out to be an understatement. We finally get in the car and Sadie is falling all over the place like a very intoxicated child.
We get home and Memaw is waiting for us, thank goodness Shelbi was still napping.
Sadie continues to thrash around and throw herself back in my arms. After being home about 20 minutes she throws up ALL of her juice and crackers. Lucky me, I caught most of it, so I didn't have to clean the carpet, just me. She napped for about two hours. For the rest of the night, I had to hold at least one hand to keep her from falling. The next day she remained grouchy and sensitive to being held. She threw her self back as often as she was held. By Sunday she was starting to get a little of her happy personality back. Today she is almost recovered and cheerful again.
Sad to say, the genetic counselor called and our insurance approved the UBE3a test for Angelman Syndrome so she will have to give blood again next week. Yeah!
