Hope for Baby Bennett: Cardiology visit...it's all in your perspective

Friday, February 18, 2011

Cardiology visit...it's all in your perspective

Today, we had our monthly cardiologist visit. From my perspective, it went WONDERFULLY. All news was good! He is now measuring 30in (the exact same length Sierra was at a year, ironically) (over the 50 percentile) and 20lb8oz (he's now in the 25% percentile!). Dr. Kim actually had to stop and make sure she plotted him right, because he's never been that high - I think he was only around 10% at his last appointment! SO exciting! His echo looked great as well: his heart function was the BEST she's ever seen it (!!!), his triscupid valve leakage was still minimal (you expect a bit with single ventricles, but you want it to stay as minimal as possible) and his Glenn physiology still looks good! He was satting at 76, but considering he'd been screaming pretty much nonstop (more on that in a second), I was thrilled he was even satting that high! All in all, mommy was VERY happy with today's appointment.

I sense that Bodie, on the other hand, might not paint such a rosy picture of today's events. If you asked him how things went down, I suspect he might look at you like this...

and give you his rendition of today's appointment:

"Sleeping peacefully in car. Mommy waking me up. WHAT? Never supposed to wake a sleeping baby. Smile at nice favorite lady in recept-WAIT A MINUTE! WHO is that? Not our favorite lady. Never mind. No smiles for her. Cry to get out of stroller. Cry to get out of mommy's arms. Cry to get back into mommy's arms. Want a bottle. No wait. Never mind. Don't want a bottle. Go back to exam room. Get measured. See ekg machine. Scream. Scream some more. Do ekg. Scream at tech waiving toys in my face. I DON'T WANT to calm down. Stop waving toys at me. I HATE this place. Scream some more. Get blood pressure cuffs on. I HATE those things. Really screaming now. Holding breath as much as humanly possible. Take those sats, nurse/tech lady!!! How do you like those low 60's sats? That'll teach you to mess with me. Cry some more. Hold breath some more. Scream and try to lunge off the scale while being weighed. I HATE doctors and nurses. FINALLY, she leaves. In room with mommy all alone now. All smiles. Play with mommy. Knock on door. NO!!!! Dr. Kim in room. Ah, she's alright - but nobody touches me today. Try to crawl back inside mommy to get away from this place. Dr. Kim and mommy have a nice chat. In mommy's lap. Out of mommy's lap. Try to stand up. No, don't want to. Yes, stand. No, crawl away again. Dr. Kim leaves. YES - alone with mommy again! Play some more. Knock on door. NO!!!! NEW, UNFAMILIAR echo tech! Back to echo room. Scream. Wriggle. Scream some more. Get gel everywhere. Turn off Elmo - I will NOT be distracted today! Get that sucker out of my face. I just want to scream! I HATE echos. Get gel all over mommy. Dr. Kim comes in to help echo tech get the 3 pictures she actually needs. Finally done. HA - I showed her! Back in exam room. Happily playing ALONE with mommy. Knock on door. NO!!!! Just Dr. Kim saying echo looks good. Ok. She gives mommy a birthday card for me. Ok, we love Dr. Kim. But SO glad to be leaving the office!"

Yes, it appears that our sweet well-behaved boy has finally developed a full-fledged fear of medical personnel. The first appointment we've had like this - I'm afraid it's a precursor to our appointments for the next year at least! But, truly, I'll take nonstop screaming anyday if we get the kind of doctor's report we got today. :-)

1 comment:

TaraFebruary 18, 2011 at 3:03 PM
Great to hear he had a good report!!!
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The Chosen Mothers by Erma Bombeck

Most women become mothers by accident, some by choice, a few by social pressures, and a couple by habit. Did you ever wonder how mothers of children with life threatening illnesses are chosen?

Somehow, I visualize God hovering over Earth selecting His instruments for propagation with great care and deliberation. As He observes, He instructs His angels to make notes in a giant ledger. "Armstrong, Beth, son, patron saint Matthew. Forrest, Marjorie, daughter, patron saint Cecilia. Rutledge, Carrie, twins, patron saint Gerard."

Finally, He passes a name to an angel and says, "Give her a child with cancer." The angel is curious. "Why this one God? She's so happy." "Exactly" smiles God, "Could I give a child with cancer a mother who does not know laughter? That would be cruel."

"But, does she have patience?" asks the angel. "I don't want her to have too much patience or she will drown in a sea of self-pity and despair. Once the shock and resentment wears off, she will handle it." "I watched her today. She has that feeling of self and independence that is so rare and so necessary in a mother. You see, the child I'm going to give her has it's own world. She has to make it live in her world and that's not going to be easy."

"But, Lord, I don't think she believes in you." No matter, I can fix that. This one is perfect. She has just enough selfishness." The angel gasps -"Selfishness? is that a virtue?"

God nods. "If she can't separate herself from the child occasionally, she'll never survive. Yes, here is a woman whom I will bless with a child less than perfect. She doesn't realize it yet, but she is to be envied. She will never take anything her child does for granted. She will never consider a single step ordinary. I will permit her to see clearly the things I see...ignorance, cruelty, prejudice...and allow her to rise above them." She will never be alone. I will be at her side every minute of every day of her life, because she is doing My work as surely as if she is here by My side." "And what about her patron Saint?" asks the angel. His pen poised in mid-air. God smiles, "A mirror will suffice."