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Nov. 11, 2009
Mad as a hornet
You all are not even going to believe this one.
We got to the hospital and got settled in, then headed off for a BUNCH of procedures in the treatment room. Noah had to get cathed instead of getting a bag urine specimen because he has had gram negative bugs grow in his urine in the past and we had to be sure we had a sterile specimin in case the gram negatives in his blood had come from a UTI. It is unbelievably hard to cath him, and he is usually sedated in the ER for this. Up on the floor they can't do sedation, but he did get some ativan to help a little.
Noah has a very tight foreskin which means that they are just working blind when trying to cath him. After almost 30 minutes of true agony the ID doctor came in and told us that she had called the lab in Greenwood to ask some more questions about his culture. Turns out that, "oh, oops" Noah is NOT growing gram negative anything. Oops. His culture is growing a gram positive bacteria that is almost always the result of a contaminated specimen - in other words, the bacteria almost certainly isn't in his blood stream at all but is due to a speck of dust.
ID said that we could go home. Like I keep saying, Noah doesn't really look bad. They stopped trying to cath him but did have to go ahead and get peripheral cultures (blood out of his arm), broviac cultures, and a bunch of other labs - but since he's looking OK we were given the go-ahead to go home and watch him with the understanding that if gets worse OR the new cultures grow something, then we come right back.
In the meantime, my baby was truly and literally tortured for 30 minutes because somebody wasn't paying attention to his or her work in a lab somewhere. Even the really seasoned and always calm nurses were traumatized by watching Noah go through this. It was horrible.
So, yeah, I'm feeling a little conflicted right now. I'm truly thrilled and stunned that we are going home, and I am heartsick and furious that Noah had to suffer like that for nothing. He was in that room in pain for just short of an hour total. He is covered in petechial hemorraging (little burst blood vessels all over from the screaming) and looks like he'll have bruises all over his thighs from being held while he fought so hard. His little boy parts are raw and hurting. Even when we were trying to do "no ouchie" procedures, he was so traumatized and terrified that he was screaming and shaking.
All because of a mistake. This would have been agony enough if we had truly needed to do this, but it is unbearable to know that he didn't need to go through this. Anybody need an object lesson for your children on why it is important to always do our best and always pay attention????
To top it all off, Noah just got a new Thomas DVD. He was holding it in the car on the way here and had a meltdown because the package contained an ad for some new Thomas that you put in a tunnel and fix or something. He decided he had to have that toy right now (sound like a three year old?). Jeff and I were trying to calm him down and making a mental note to try and find this toy for Christmas or something. Well, the Child Life worker brought that new Thomas DVD into the treatment room for Noah to watch. It had a commercial for the toy, of course. When we were done and ready to leave the room, I told Noah it was time to go to the prize box - and in the next breath said "Oh, and let's get your new Thomas too." I MEANT let's grab the new DVD so we don't forget it, but Noah thought that the new TOY was going to be in the prize box. Let's just say I am no longer a contender for the Mother of the Year award. Talk about adding insult to injury - and I was so shocked by the news of the lab error that it took me a few minutes to figure out why he was sobbing instead of picking out a prize.
Fortunately Noah is very resilient and forgiving. Child Life loaded him up with goodies which he is enjoying, and he is happy that he is going home. So am I. I just want to go home and hold him and rock him and pray that he will forget this all.
We'll be leaving as soon as we get the paperwork.
Blessings,
Kate |
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Posted by Niki@ruralwritings 
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Nov. 11, 2009 - So sorry...
Praying that the Lord will calm your spirit and surround Noah with comfort also.
Robin M
COLE Prayer Team
www.colesfoundation.org