No Access

Jacob has been SO sick!!

Seriously throwing up for two days.

And I was feeling exhausted yesterday morning.

Jacob is a really needy patient :)

And Bradley kept fussing yesterday too.

And I wondered if he was getting what Jacob has but that he couldn't throw up because of the fundo.

And if Jacob was lethargic, I could not imagine what would happen to Bradley.

 

And last night I was holding him on my bed and he was shivering!!

And I took off all his clothes and held him on my chest and covered us with a blanket.

And I could feel him stiffen and seize.

He had three seizures in 10 minutes or perhaps it was a 10 minute seizure.
And he was grey, almost blue, and we turned up the oxygen as high as we could.

And Tom called 911.

I had just given him a rectal Tylenol for the fever and chills.

And I told Tom I was scared to drive him down to Sunrise myself.

So they sent an ambulance.

And 8 EMTs came in with all their equipment.

And they looked at Bradley's modeled skin, and said he needed to go in.
He had a temperature of 103 and the EMT said he might have an infection.

And I told him I was afraid to drive him.

And they loaded me on the gurney holding Bradley in my arms and said they had to.

That stupid gurney hurts your legs.
And he said he was going to start an IV and I said "Good luck!"
And I told him about Bradley's access problems.
And he took a flash light and shone it through Bradley's hands and said he couldn't see ANY veins,
so he wouldn't try.

And I was facing the back of the ambulance but I knew every intersection we passed through.

And the EMT with me asked if I had lived in Vegas long. I told him 12 years.

But I told him I spend an unordinary amount of time at the hospital
and we are always always driving to Sunrise so I know EVERY intersection very well :)

 

 

And the nurse who came out to meet the ambulance made eye contact with me

 and said "YOU WERE JUST HERE!"
And the EMT said, "So you don't need me to brief you about this patient then?"

And she and I laughed and said no.

She said, "He was my patient last month; when we placed an IO."

And I nodded.

And they rolled us through the adult side and into peds.

And every nurse who we passed said hello.

And we were assigned one nurse and were put in the trauma bay so we had more room.

 

And the parade of nurses, trying to get a line, some blood, or something, started.

 

Some remembered us. Some did not.

And they tried every limb, every joint,

every possible place they have ever gotten an IV in anyone before.

And finally, 2 hours later, on the 10th attempt and the 10th nurse, they got one in!!

And they started fluids and tapped his arm to a board.

And a doctor came in and made eye contact with me and said he was a doctor from the PICU.

And then he said, "I remember you!"
And I said, "Me too."

 

 

And he told me he was going to try some artery draws.

And I told him that was fine.

And he was going for arteries in Bradley's groin.

And he kept pushing the needle in and pulling it out.

And he put a syringe on the other end of a butterfly needle

and had someone pull the plunger while he fished the needle.

He tried both arteries.

And nothing would flow out into the needle.

And he asked me where they normally get blood from,

and I told them they do not.

I told him it has been months since we've been able to get a draw.

And he asked if Bradley had been breastfed.

And I said "Yes; but only for 2 weeks."
And he said, "I see this all the time. Breastfed babies are the hardest to draw."
And I narrowed my eyes and said "REALLY!?!"

 

And he smiled and said, "No, I'm just kidding! Ha!"

And I had an ugly look on my face, and I said "I'M ABOUT TO KICK YOUR ASS!"
And the 10 people in the room stopped what they were doing and stared at me.

And the doctor was suddenly serious and said, "I'm sorry. I was joking."
And I said it wasn't funny!!

He was sitting there shoving a needled in and out of my baby and I didn't need jokes like that!!

Especially because I wanted to nurse him so badly.

And he aspirates. And I could not!!

And all of this bullshit is SO freakin' exahusting and I'm sick of it!!!

 



 

And as soon as I finished my rant, blood came flowing into the needle.

And they got their blood for their tests and their cultures.

And they turned off the lights and pulled the curtain and left me to hold

and kiss my baby who was knocked out from the ativan.

And I sat and kissed his free hand.

And I looked at his IV and his fingers were purple and his hand was white.

And I called the nurse.

And she came and removed the IV and said it was good I had noticed.

I spread out a sheet on another gurney that was in the room and I finally closed my eyes. 

 





 

And at 2am the nurse rushed in and said everything came back normal except he had an elevated white blood count and the cultures wouldn't be back for 48 hours.

And we were going home right after she gave him a shot of rocephin.

And I suddenly realized I needed a ride home.

And I called Tom and he hurried down and picked us up.
And I gratefully tucked my baby into his bed at 2am last night.

 

I'm 100% sure the port is a great idea now.

100%