Big, Scary Tests

You may have already read about Moo’s ability to hold her breath until she passes out and here’s the latest.

After the episode on the plane where she managed to not only pass out but also lose bladder control, the GP decided it was time for a visit to the paediatrician. Who decided an EEG (electroencephalogram) was in order.

Before the pediatrician appointment, poor Moo had to go for blood tests. We took her to the childrens’ hospital and I have to say, an hour in that waiting room give you just a small glimpse of what difficult challenges are facing so many parents and children. Seeing so many unwell children was a reminder to be grateful for the small (and big) things that are OK in our lives. It can be so easy to miss these blessings in the day to day craziness that life can be.

The pediatrician appointment went swimmingly – Moo breezed through all the Neuro and developmental tests. My favourite was when they asked how old she was and she answered “2 but I’m 3 when I go to IKEA” (Clearly because you have to be 3 to go in the children’s playroom and yes I taught her that lie. Totally worth it.)

While breath holding can be very common in young children and not cause for concern, the paediatrician was also concerned that the incontinence was not so common so opted to send Moo for an EEG.

I received a phone call to let me know they had an 8am or a 10am appointment available in a couple of days time and I opted for the 10am. No one in our family are early risers so I didn’t fancy trying to rush out the door for the 8am one. Until I read the preparation directions.

• Keep your toddler awake until 9pm the night before. Piece of cake. If Moo naps in the day she is a terror to get to bed by 7pm.
• Wake your toddler at 5am. WHAT??

I quickly call the hospital and ask if the 8am appointment is still available. Thankfully it was.

• Wash child’s hair the morning of the appointment.

Shouldn’t be too hard – I’ve got 2 hours between wake up and the time we have to leave.

What they don’t mention in the instructions is that your toddler will be so freaking tired and cranky that it will take you twice as long to complete the usual morning routine. If there was ever a time I realised just how much a child needs enough sleep, this morning was it.

Moo was the most fractious I have seen her in a long time. She argued about everything and I even had difficulty understanding what she was saying which is not usually a problem we have with her.

I managed to keep her awake on the ride into the hospital (next instruction – don’t let them go back to sleep) and arrive in plenty of time for our appointment.

She was a real trooper during the procedure. A little hesitant to start with and not super happy to let the nurse start playing around with her head but she soon relaxed with the help of some Frozen meets Spider-Man videos on my phone (they are weird but she loves them!).

 

After about 15 minutes of lying quietly they came back in the room and said we would need to get her to sleep.

She may have been tired but she still needed a fair bit of persuasion to close her eyes. Eventually I said if she closed her eyes until I counted to 30 then she could get up. When Moo starts counting past 10 if it goes something along the lines of 28, 29…40 – now you know why. I’m not sure how far I got with my counting but eventually she was sound asleep.

They placed a strobe light in front of her eyes and ran a series of strobe sequences while she was sleeping.

And then the nurse came back in and told me we needed to wake her again!!! Who devised this test!?

She woke with some more persuasion and was in a remarkably good mood. She lay very patiently while the nurse painstakingly removed each electrode and did her best to remove the sticky, creamy residue.

I would like to say we then went home to nap but there were a few other things we needed to get done that day so we soldiered on.

Moo did a great job and I am so grateful that she was lucky enough that she didn’t have to endure something more painful or ongoing like so many other children do. My hearts go out to the families who are so familiar with the hospitals and spend so much of their time there. It can be a daunting place for big people, let alone little ones and the medical staff did a fabulous job to help us feel comfortable and relaxed.

For those of you wondering – no results until the next paed appointment.

Edit: we’ve had the paid review and while the tests seemed fine they want to redo in a couple of months just to be sure. Here’s hoping the next appointment is on a day when Hubby is home and he can deal with the tired cranky Moo! 🙂