Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Day Two: Only One Appointment Today...

We only had to take CurlyGirl over to the St. Mary's Hospital Campus for today's appointments but is was enough for one day. She suspicious anytime sometime other than Daddy or I touched her. The staff at Mayo is great - very patient and understanding - They seem to go out of their way to anticipate confusion and they repeat things and explain and then repeat again.

That is a strategy that more medical institutions should use. The last time our doctor in Michigan needed a urine sample, I took her to the local hospital with the prescription and they sent me home with the collecting devices and told me to read the directions. Here they actually placed the device on KT and gave me a choice of removing it myself or returning to their office. (Daddy wants a couple for Chase for cold winter days.)

Anyway, that little rant was off opic. Today, KT was the second patient of the day for Dr. I. She had blood taken, skin and muscle biopsies and a lumbar puncture. She's developing a distrust for places that smell like rubbing alcohol. After a couple of skirmishes, KT was sedated with laughing gas and then the IV was inserted. The staff invites one of the parents to suit up for surgery and stay with the child until they fall asleep. Then you wait in the family waiting area until your child reports to the recovery room. KT was pretty sleepy so we didn't leave Mayo until after 1:00.

Procedural info: They schedule pediatric surgeries of this sort in order of age: Youngest first to oldest patient. We would have been first except KT was having multiple procedures which meant dovetailing the schedules for two surgical teams. Initially, KT had been scheduled for two separate operations but when we met with Dr. I yesterday, the team rearranged schedules to allow for only one sedation. So I had to call into a Patient Information Voicemail system where your doctors can leave messages for you like the one that told me what time we needed to report today. Mayo is amazingly well-organized around the concept that patient care comes first and this is reflected in everything they do.

KT is now giggling while she watches Bear from the Jeep. We're supposed to keep her still today and the Jeep stroller allows her to lie back and still watch Tutter the little blue mouse. Hopefully, she'll sleep a lot today and finally shake this cold. McK is making friends playing in the toddler pool. She's finally gained the courage to slide down the little toddler water slide! She misses Chase and our white house back in Michigan. We'll be home soon! - Mommy K

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hello, this is Aunt Jeanne. We are praying that you will get some answers today ? Not sure how long things take but.......

Give those darling girls a hug for us ! Uncle Bill, and Aunt Jeanne