The short story:
Kate went a bit crazy on the ward whilst waiting for her sedation and CT scan because she was nil by mouth from 4 hours before. That's the period she'd have normally had milk, breakfast and probably a snack. Then she fell asleep.
She woke 5 mins before the sedation time and and refused to go to sleep on the mediation. My kid can't be sedated!! She flailed in my arms for a very long time. In the end I had to take her away, feed her up and run her about in the park and returned with her in a natural sleep & we managed to do it.
It made it a very long and exhausting day for me!
The long story: for those who like the detail and anybody going through this that might like to know - and this is probably about as bad as it gets when it comes to a sedation and CT scan!!
Kate is 17 months old at this time.
Husband & I got up about 6am & I woke Kate at 6.30 with a small amount of milk, exactly 4 hours pre-sedation time. That's the latest she could have ANYTHING pre-sedation. We left on the 6.47 train from our local station to London Bridge & then got a bus to Holborn & walked a few mins to Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH). This is the first time I'd actually been into GOSH, as previous appointments had been next door.
Hubby had come to make sure I got there ok, and we arrived about 8.05, early for our 8.30 check-in. He left us to go on to his office in Victoria. By the time I'd actually got to the right place in the hospital, we were probably just on time.
Within moments of being on the ward, Kate became restless due to her hunger. She was not at all happy to be weighed, 11.4 kg, have her temperature, heart rate and blood pressure measured. She made this well-known!
She then went into a major hissy fit, throwing herself around, pushing me away and even thrashed out to smash the toys in the playroom she was offered. She banged her head a couple of times and rushed into the corridor a few times to make sure everyone knew she was not happy. Hungry, hungry, hungry. Nothing could be done, her sedation was booked for 10.30 and Scan 11am.
Luckily, it wasn't that long before she fell into an exhausted sleep on my lap whilst I sang her nursery rhymes and at 9.15 I transferred her to her pushchair, asked for a cup of tea & wrote notes up to here!
At 10am a friendly SHO came to do Kate's patient assessment and consent forms with me and told me more about the sedation and what to expect before and after. She said to be warned that some kids fight the medication though many just fall asleep quietly. I also learnt that the CT Scan is really a multiple number of X-rays that will show in detail the bones. She did her checks of Kate whilst she was still asleep & left.
At 10.25 Kate woke up and seemed reasonably happy, considering she must have been starving still. She waved to people as she does, as we went down to the sedation & CT scan area.
Two CT ladies popped in to check Kate's details & the nurse told them to give us 15 mins. She turned down most of the lights. I looked at the clock in the room & it was 10.50. The nurse handed me a big syringe of honey-coloured liquid and said it's better if the mother does it and warned me that it's quite runny, not thick like Calpol! We lost a little bit to the floor & my knees but she took most of it & the nurse said that was fine. To start with she did seem subdued, but then she started squirming and fussing and for quite a lot of the time screamed and fought me as much as she could under sedation. I couldn't let go of her as her legs didn't work! After a while of fighting her trying to push me off and getting really worked up I asked the nurse how long this normally takes and she said some take 40 mins. After a bit longer I asked her if it ever 'not' works and she said, "Sometimes, well only once since I've been doing this, and that's 2 years".
I decided the clock couldn't have been working as it then said 12.05 and the CT ladies had been in several times to see if she was ready. I couldn't see my watch or phone to see what the real time was, as I had to hang onto Kate. She was throwing squirming and thrusting moves and it seemed an age, and I should have gone to the toilet before we went down! Eventually the CT ladies suggested taking her in to the scan room as it's also quite dark & quiet. They got me to try lying her down on the 'bed' but that didn't go at all well & then they suggested another 10 mins in the other waiting room. When she still hadn't gone to sleep they said they'd have to try this afternoon. That's IF they could fit her in and IF she was to be asleep naturally. I got to the toilet finally and realised it was gone 1pm when I came out of the hospital so I think that clock had been right!
NOTE : I have since found out this is called an Adverse Reaction and it happens more often than I was led to believe
I had doubts, considering her earlier sleep & sedation medication, that she would sleep at all for the rest of the day. It would have been a wasted trip without trying, so I took it as an opportunity to go and explore Coram Fields, the play area/park almost behind the hospital.
First, a quick lunch for me, at Brunswick shopping centre and I got a bargain lunch that was lovely.
Coram Fields is more concrete than I'd expected, though the grass areas seemed to be being re-seeded and not accessible. There's plenty of play equipment, sand and chickens, rabbits etc to see too. Kate loved it and I did my best to wear her out and feed her up to make her sleepy!
I headed back about 2.50pm as I had to be back by 3pm. I did all my tricks to get her off & she just fell asleep on the ward and they rang down to say we were back and we were told to go straight down to scanning.
Half-a-long-hour passed waiting in the scan area reception, but in the end we managed to do it. I even got her coat and cardigan off because both have a hood - that's a good tip for CT Scans - no hoddies!
I stayed with Kate for the scan, which meant wearing some heavy overall and neck-thing. I've found out this is filled with lead to absorb any wandering X-rays, though I wonder why Kate didn't have one on her body! It didn't wake her as it sounds a bit like a washing machine, not like an MRI that I've had which is extremely noisy.
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| Example, not my picture obviously! |
It was done. Simple as that. Kate woke up just after, as we were putting her coat back on, and I immediately went into my journey home to avoid rush hour. She was good as gold, considering everything. I had a 15 mins walk to avoid the steps at our local station on my return and then went straight to collect Nikki from my sisters. There her husband made me a cuppa I was dying for. My sister was then at work, and I returned to unpack Nikki's things, and make pancakes before bed with her.
Exhausted. At least I know my route for tomorrow, and Nikki and my Mum are coming too for the pre-op appointment, which will make things different. I will be looking forward to a break before going back again for the op!
