Testing, Testing, 1-2-3

July 25, 2006 - 9:30pm

Well I don't know whether to present the following as a failure or a success . . .

Yesterday Rosalie was scheduled for an audiogram which required mild sedation. They gave her the medication (chloral hydrate) to make her fall asleep. It normally takes less than a half hour to work. After about an hour of watching a totally kooky Rosalie, it was declared a "failed sedation." She never fell asleep and so they couldn't do the test. But I couldn't help but find it mildly fitting that she just wouldn't fall asleep. She just fought it and fought it and fought it. She was pulling off the blood pressure cuff and all the other wires they use to test vital signs when a child is being sedated. I remembered how weak and flaccid she was those first few weeks after the surgery - and so it really seemed like a triumph for me to see her pull all of these wires off of her body. On the other hand, this meant that we had to figure out another way to get the test done.

Meanwhile, she is due for another swallow study on the rehab end of things. The last time she did this study she was very weak from surgery and so she did not put up a fuss. This time around she acted much more age appropriate. She was completely freaked out by the large x-ray thing next to her head. She was scared by the doctor, and she was yelling "up" the entire time. So again, we weren't able to complete the test - but it is so good to see her acting her age. We'll come up with a better strategy for this procedure next time. But her rehab therapists tell me that this test is always hard with two year olds.

Finally, this afternoon she completed an alternative way of doing the audiogram which they were unable to administer yesterday (since she never fell asleep). Honestly, I am not exactly sure how the test worked. It felt like a strange dream out of some Baby Einstein video. Rosalie, Mark, and I were in this isolation booth with one of the audiologists. Rosalie had things in her ears. The audiologist in the booth was trying to distract her with stuffed animals while the other was obviously putting some sort of noise into the headphones. They developed some sort of Pavlovian response in Rosalie where she would look at these strange toy animals on the wall which would make music (like play the drums or the cymbals) and light up. I was trying so hard not to laugh. Rosalie looked so cute there in the middle of this little soundproof "clubhouse." Then she'd look at those crazy animals on the wall with a look of bewilderment. We will know more about the results of this test tomorrow morning.

So that's the latest with Rosalie's tests for the week.

MRI and lumbar puncture on Thursday.

Lots of love,
Carolyn