Wednesday 28th November 2007

Heartcat day 1
James and I returned to home sweet home ward 67 on the hospital at 10.00. One day full of examinations and waiting in between of course.
We were sharing the room with another family during the day. Their baby boy was waiting for his operation which would take place the following day. They were a nice couple with their first child. Their baby had a “smaller” heart condition and would be considered healthy after. We had some nice chitchat and then it was time for blood tests on James. James was a really good boy, the staff made the best of it. It is not easy to drain blood from a baby as it is and with James it is harder since his circulation in the extremities is not normal and the blood has a lot more blood clots to make sure he oxygenates properly to compensate the less oxygenated blood in his system. Many times the blood comes so slowly they have to start over again. There is usually no local pain reliever it works well with just some glucose orally. This time James became really cross. It is rarely he reacts to the puncture but reacts when they later have to hold his little hand and he wants it back of course. James has two levels, happy and cross. He is really a tough little boy! Anyway blood pressure test and saturation test (oxygen level) followed the blood test. James has very good values. The doctors wants him to be between 75%-85% and he is usually around 85-87%.If he is not cross then he goes easily down to 60% going from purple and blue in his face. Well, after all those tests it was time to do the x-ray of heart and lungs. So we had to rush over to x-ray2 unit. I have been in there some times now and know the procedure and how to hold him. This time they gave him contrast orally which was a thick white fluid. Of course it came outside his mouth as well, which made him look like a mini father Christmas. All went well and efficient and they were happy of the quality of the x-rays.
Not long after, after a quick nibble for lunch, it was time for the heart ultrasound. A young cardiologist named Sverrir did the examination. He is really compassionate and easy to talk to, which is important to me. There is nothing worse than a dry stroppy doctor who has to point out and show off he is a doctor. I have met too many doctors over the years so I have no problem questioning a doctor and a dry one can’t take it. It makes me feel uneasy when I can’t be my giggly self and have some jokes in between, which of course usually is sick ones. I asked Sverrir about James nails. I had noticed (like everything else about James in tiny details because of worries) he has a white striped mark on all his nails exactly in the middle and in the same place as it happened at the same time. So of course I showed him and asked him if it was because he might be having a lack of calcium. He scratched his head and said it must have happened when James was seriously ill and his vital organs closed down. So the marks he has is from the beginning on his nails he had when he was severely ill because of lack of calcium. Sverrir was pleased with what he saw on the scan.
The staff asked me if I wanted to stay overnight since James was first with the Catheterisation at 8.00. I said no since I had not planned to sleep there since no one had said I could, and we just live 15 minutes from the hospital. I had the choice to give him a disinfectant bath early in the morning at home and put pain relief cream on his hands to prepare for the needles. I said I could do that myself and we could go home. We cake home between 19.00 and 20.00. I stayed up until 02.00 to make sure he ate just before the last time he was allowed to.