A few months ago our lovely Dr found some suspicious heart sounds when she was giving Xav a check up. After going back for her to check it in a month, and it still being there, she suggested we take Xav for an echo cardiogram just to make sure everything was ok. I tried booking it in before he was 3, but unfortunately they don't do under 3's on the coast, so after double checking with Dr Drew she said it'd be fine to wait until after his birthday. I did think it was a bit overkill, but she said that the sounds were quite significant and considering my heart history (my father died quite young of a heart attack) it's probably best to err on the side of caution. Duane and I also had heart mumurs as children and we both did grow out of them, but it's something that's needed to be aware of for any dental work.
So today was the day. I dropped Grace at school and after heading home for a quick play and clean-up we headed off. I'd tried my best to explain to Xav what was going to be happening. Letting him know that we were going to see a Dr and they would be taking some photos of his heart and checking how it sounded. He asked if he'd be getting a "blood test", and I reassured him that no, nothing that he would be doing would hurt him. He was fine with all that, and was quite happy to head along there. He played happily in the waiting room whilst I filled out the paper work. He did stand out in the waiting room, being the youngest there by about 70 years! We were called into the room, and still he was fine with everything. It wasn't until we got into the room and he saw all the machines and started screaming that he "didn't want a blood test" , he was just overwhelmed with it all and was not going to co-operate. The sonographer showed him what she would be doing, and gave him a quick demo on me - but it still didn't calm him. She said that he'd have to take his top off, and this just sent him into even more hysteria - I'm sure the whole office and waiting room where wondering what all the noise was about.
I tried to calmly explain again what was happening and telling him that I would be there and nothing was going to hurt him - but he just kept screaming and yelling "NO I don't want to!" The sonographer said to me that if he wouldn't co-operate we'd have to go up to Brisbane and he'd be sedated. Right, I was on a mission. I ripped off his top, picked him up and pinned him to the bed - he was still screaming. I layed on the bed with him and tried desperately to calm him down. In the end I dug deep into the bad parenting toolbox and bribed him with chocolate. At the mention of chocolate, his screaming stopped and miraciously he was able to hold a lucid conversation on how big and what sort that chocolate would be. He told me all about the time Grandma had bought him and Grace a special treat chocolate, one that looked like an egg but had a toy on the inside - Kinder surprise! I was so happy to have him calm and coperative, that I promised him one of them when we were done. He settled right down then and just layed there, only moving when she asked him to as she needed to get a good ultrasound of his neck, or shove the probe into his ribs to get a downward or upward view of his heart. The ecg took about 45 minutes, and all the time I was laying beside him. He asked about half way through if I'd give him "light touches", which meant I had to manoeuvre around all the wires to get to his back, he relaxed even more - nearly falling asleep! He was perfect the rest of the time, only wincing at the end when all the sticky pads where ripped off his chest.
I asked at the end how it all looked and the response I got was "Sorry, I can't comment, but the cardiologist will look over and send the report to your Dr urgently" Now, the rational part of me knows that this is a stock standard response, but still I can't stop thinking that she saw something unusual and that's why she said that.
As the appointment took longer than I expected, I was running late to pick Grace and Cassie from school and go to dancing. Made even more late by the fact that Xav insisted all the way in the car that we go get his egg chocolate BEFORE getting the girls. I tried to talk him into just having a freddo frog, as I had them already in the fridge at home, but no - he wanted the egg one. So, a quick run into Coles and then a mad dash to grab 2 very excited little girls and straight to dancing where we just made it in time for the warm-up!
I'll make an appointment with my Dr for Thursday or Friday and hopefully be told the wonderful news that my son's heart is just perfect and the swishing sound is merely just another one of his crazy quirks!
0 comments:
Post a Comment