We Made It...

We are now home and all (myself temporarily excluded) safely tucked into bed and duly zonked after a pretty rough day at the hospital. We don't have any results back yet other than the obvious one that Josie is one tough little girl: her post-op screams of rage are probably still echoing through the halls of Ward 19, and I'm sure there are at least one or two hospital staff members who are treating themselves to a stiff after-work cocktail tonight.

We started off well enough, arriving at the hospital shortly before noon to find out Josie was scheduled to enter the MRI theatre at 2:30pm. We had been told she needed to be ready as early as noon, so she hadn't had anything to eat but Jello since the night before and nothing to drink past 10am. We visited the toy area, read some books and eventually settled in for a nap just as the hospital staff decided to clean the shared (but temporarily and tantalizingly quiet and empty) room. After an almost-comical (I'm sure I'll find the humor in it someday) amount of noise later, she fell asleep and rested until more new roommates woke her up shortly before 2:30pm.

Perfect timing! Except they still weren't ready to receive her in the MRI theatre: shortly before 3 we were informed they wouldn't be ready for her until 4pm, at which point we would walk upstairs with our nurse. By ten minutes after 4 our nurse had gone into hiding and wasn't going to risk us seeing her until the MRI folks paged us. The short(er) version of the story, Josie wasn't admitted until nearly 5pm, which means she could have eaten a decent breakfast and a snack and had fluids (which were somehow critically important only after the lumbar puncture, inspiring one hapless doctor to chastise Brandie for not forcing Josie to drink during the hour-long scream-fest that accompanied her coming off the anesthetic, but we were told repeatedly prior to the procedure that she was fine to go without all day) up until 3pm.

After the procedure, we were told that another blood test was required within half an hour (why this wasn't just performed while she was still under the anesthesia I have no idea, but am still marveling at the absurdity of it) to go along with the lumber puncture samples: anyone who has helped a toddler come off general anesthetic knows the first hour or so is going to be pretty gruesome, and Josie did not disappoint! Brandie will have to tell the full story of the final blood-drawing because I was off picking Sophie up from the Abbot's (where she is now an honorary family-member) and missed the opportunity to experience it first-hand. Suffice it to say Brandie & our nurse Rachel (whom I hope is enjoying a nice martini right now) both bonded over the ordeal, and Josie will never marry a doctor.

Our primary doctor visited us after the procedure (which was an unexpected surprise, previously we were only able to get face-time with him during his morning rounds at the hospital) and let us know he would be able to contact us via phone (as opposed to us having to spend more mornings at the hospital just to see him) to discuss the results of today's tests. We would also discuss the dosage of Josie's anticonvulsant on Friday, and possibly increase it if she was still having seizures at the current rate (still around 30+ per day.)

Thanks again to Caroline and her awesome family for giving Sophie another break from the hospital, and to Sarah and Lisa for making us two more fantastic dinners: I'd almost be willing to go through a day like this again, for a reward like that (emphasis on 'almost')! Sophie fell asleep in the car on the ride home from the hospital, but Josie stayed up extra-late to have some Jello, juice and pretty much anything else she wanted (cheese puffs, hummus and carrots, banana, fudge from Nadine) while Mom & Dad ate their dinners. I think she deserved it!