VCUG Testing and Zoo Visit

WP (Web-Princess) had her VCUG testing done today at the Children's Hospital in Madison. Walking into the Hospital was not like any other hospital I've been in.

This is the lobby as you are walking in. They had a chair that looked like the tail end of a car.

We got to our room and the staff explained how the procedure worked. They gave WP a catheter to play with.

They let her pick out a blanket that she got to BRING HOME! She chose this blanket because it reminded her of her Auntie that is in the Army!  She even said I wanted this blanket because of Auntie.

They even let her put stickers on the bedpan she was going to use for the testing.

When it got closer to her testing time they gave her some oral midazolam. This is what they called their "goofy juice". It makes the kids a little goofy because it impairs their cognitive reasoning. It also has a bit of an amnesia effect so they don't exactly "remember" everything.

Shortly after they gave her the midazolam DH and Superstar (SS) left to go to the playroom down the hall. A very nice playroom too. They had board games, a Wii, and a computer with internet to occupy their time.  DH was able to use the hospital computer, in the the playroom, to check his work emails. He and Superstar also played a game of Clue.

While DH and SS were in the playroom, I occupied WP's time with an "I Spy Book". We were looking  for a clock. As we were looking I made an off handed comment how the clock goes "tick-tock". After saying that WP took the book, held it to her ear, and after several minutes said "There is NO tick-tock". I knew at that moment the midazolam had kicked in! I took out my cell phone; called DH and explain to him what just happened with the book.  DH said okay I'm on my way down I want to talk to her.

So DH leaves the playroom and comes down the hall to WP's room. SS stayed in the playroom which was fine. (see my post on Free Range Kids). Anyway, DH comes into the room. WP took one look at him and said "Who are you?".  DH responded "My name is Johny!" (I should note that DH's name is NOT Johny).  Well at the moment, WP looks at him and points, with two fingers, "You are Johny with two eyes".  We crack up and with that DH said his I love yous and went back to the playroom where SS was waiting.  Later DH and I shared how that was NOT the response that either one of us was expecting. We both thought for sure she would roll her eyes and say "Dad!"

Shortly after our "Johny with two eyes" moment the nurses came in to administer her some nitrous oxide and prep her for the procedure by inserting the catheter. As they were raising her bed she exclaimed in delight "I'm growing!". Then she almost fell out of the bed, because she decided at the moment she wanted to see how the bed works.

It was at that moment we decided it was best to have someone on each side of her. They put the nitrous oxide mask on her and put in the catheter. There was more funny stuff after that, but those are things I will not share on a public forum.

As they were finishing up the producer and testing it was clear that the medicine had started to wear off because WP became very aware of her nakedness and needed to cover up immediately. It was very much like an Adam and Eve moment. As the drugs wore of she felt the need to hide her nakeness.

After the testing we went to lunch at a local restaurant followed by a trip to the zoo. We share our intentions of going to the zoo with the hospital staff and they said WP should be fine to go if she felt up to it. After lunch she did feel up to it so we went.

We seen many of the animals including some white rhinos that WP was able to correctly identify without the aide of the signs. I asked are those white rhinos or black rhinos? Without hesitation WP said "White  Rhinos". I then went around the corner to read the sign and sure enough they were White Rhinos.

I praised WP for knowing the answer, to which she replied "Well I just guessed!" Hey, the odds were 50/50; so the gamble was in her favor today!

Oh and before I go I should note we were given the preliminary results on the VCUG today. Before leaving the hospital we were told that her bladder and urine flow is NORMAL! That she does not have kidney reflex. Thank God things look normal. This is JUST the PRELIMINARY results. They were going to go over the test results in finer detail and send the full results to the pediatric urologist. I will be calling the urologist on Monday to schedule a follow up.