Wednesday, January 21, 2009

White Coat Syndrome

I had to take Hosanna to a pediatric cardiologist today. She had a slight heart murmur at her 9 month check up, and it was slightly louder at her 1 year visit, so her doc referred us to a specialist. Just to be safe.

We got there and checked in, but at the wrong place. They didn't tell us we had to get the EKG done first. So, up the elevator to cardiology for the "simple" test. I wonder how often they do EKG's on 13 month olds. My guess is not too often. The nurse tried first using these little stickers that the wires clip on to. Hosanna is so sensitive. She started to panic before we even got all the stickers on. The little clips kept falling off the stickers and Hosanna was freaking out!! The nurse gave up, took all the stickers off, and left so I could calm her down. Eventually the nurse came back with a helper and a different set of wires. These had the sticker attached to the wire. It took no time at all using those and even though she screamed through it, we finally got the test done. Whew. Why on earth didn't they start with the one piece set-up??

Then we headed back to peds for the actual dr. visit. Hosanna was just starting to warm up when we had to get her weight, height, and blood pressure. She was semi-okay until the blood pressure part. They were supposed to get readings from her leg and arm. The nurse managed to get one reading from her leg, but by that point she was screaming and freaking out again so the reading was really high. No point in even trying the arm. This was not going to work.

Thankfully the doctor was very respectful of my poor sensitive baby and moved very slowly and gently and tried to make Hosanna feel comfortable. That part went a bit better and the doc was able to get a good listen to her heart.

In the end, it was good news. It's a simple heart murmur. Nothing scary. We will recheck it in a couple of years to be absolutely sure, but the doctor was very confident that this was no big deal. Praise the Lord!

However, I don't think Hosanna will ever trust a medical professional again.

2 comments:

melanie said...

Aw, bless her little heart! I'm so glad everything is okay.

King of King's Princess said...

I hated getting that stuff done 7 years ago and couldnt imagine having been a child. They are no fun for anyone. I am really super glad to hear that all is good and you made it through with your sanity and even a burger...