So we are on an adventure to find out why Essie's tummy hurts. It isn't all that new of a problem but end of March/April I saw it with a new perspective when she asked me if she her tummy would hurt in heaven. Talk about melting your heart. Then soon after that comment she had a couple nights of waking up crying of tummy pain. We didn't miss another dose of her tummy medicine for a few weeks for sure. So we saw
Peds GI, Dr. Jolley! It lead to a
Gastric Emptying Study (which we call the egg test)! Which is exactly what my brother is trained in, nuclear medicine! He had offered to do one on her while we were down visiting... should have taken him up on it. We are now awaiting to hear the official results.
So the morning... Or I will back up, it started with a late night and then Essie up several times and unable to go back to sleep until it was almost time to get up. So I know she had reservations about today. She was brave. So the morning started out early: We left the house at 7am; arrived at Shands at 0730 (it seems earlier with a "0" in front doesn't it!). I had both girls b/c it would work better for me to have Adeline right there for a special breakfast after this test. Perfect timing. Essie slept until Bryan put her in the car becuase of being up so much last night. But she perked up quickly. We signed into Shands Nuclear Medicine and then next thing you know we are looking at a huge machine and someone not VERY kid friendly is telling Essie she will lie down and hold still for 90 minutes. So I sit on the table with her (like a MRI table - so it was not comfortable to sit there) while they cook her egg. She is warming to the idea of the table I can tell when they bring in the egg. It was white. I should have thought to prepare her for that, but she didn't seem to mind. We waited for it to cool down and then she chomped and it was GONE! You go girl. So I got the folks to start the test and off we went. They put Essie on the table, put on her "seat belt", gave her arm rests, raised it up pretty high from where it started then started sliding her between this HUGE machine/cameras (though I think they are like Geiger counters). I was a bit overwhelmed. I am scurrying around trying to find the most supportive place to be. (which changed almost minute by minute). Her distraction to a movie she and Adeline choose wore off in about 20 minutes. Adeline is mesmerized though. I was prepared. So we got out books, sang songs, the ipad, and she was "tired" of this test at approximately 30 minutes. Really! That ipad usually works for at least 30 minutes all by itself. But I am sure lying still and with this big machine in your way that it makes it hard to enjoy an ipad. Apple - start working on this! I sent out a text to get a few folks praying. It seemed we might need a miracle. I was resorting to starting the bribes. Bryan and I talked ahead of time that we would try to steer her to something practical... she immediately asked for new goggles and she thought Adeline and I would deserve them too! Such a sweet girl that she is negotiating for others when she could have been very selfish and been appropriate. We talked about her upcoming birthday, presents, and cake. We did land on a trip to
Mochi (I couldn't get her to spend any time on the topping she would pick - a sign her hopping off was soon to happen). I tried working on her hair. She was starting to whine a bit more. So we started the 30 minute countdown. She was now taking pictures with my phone. That little room was well documented. My poor brother was pestered a lot today. Thanks for all the patience with ALL my texts and texted photos. Yep he was asked to diagnos her from a phone photo. Sweet Andy! I love him! From the photo below it looks good to me (as I know nothing) and Andy says it looks good too (though I don't want to hold him to anything with such poor quality!). Did I mention she was pretty antsy at the end (last 45 minutes). One of the staff told me that the images might need fixing up for the radiologist to read (in my expertise they look great as you will see below - ha!). She finished and I think she did much better than expected for a 3/4 year old (I rarely sit still for that long)!!! So proud Essie! So Brave Essie! You are brave and you trusted God, just like those mighty men of the Bible we talked about today. Joshua 1:9 Be strong and courageous. Don't be afraid for the Lord you God is with you EVERYWHERE you go.
So here is the Essie sandwich:
Here is the photo of her study (minus the last 10 minutes as we had lots of folks checking in on us and I didn't want to get into trouble - hence why I am posting this, b/c I avoid trouble - ha!):
Posts
