So Friday's adventure lead us to Children's Hospital! Cora has been asked to volunteer in a study to observe vascular function and the functional outcomes in Fontan survivors. Needless to say she was super excited until the day it actually began.
It started the night before. She had to fast.....no eating a late night snack or breakfast. Of coarse there was a little bit of complaining about that. Ok, a lot of complaining about that!
Cora's day began with testing right away! They did several different tests where she was wired up to machines lying flat. She was to be still and quiet.... No talking. Anyone who knows Cora knows she never stops talking, so this was a challenge among itself! Every opportunity she had to chat she didn't miss a beat. She made the nurses laugh, and asked her a lot of questions.
After hours of testing Cora finally got to eat breakfast. It was so cute to see her savor each bit like she hadn't eaten in a month. Finishing up she was ready for her next round of tests. As I sat in the corner of the darkened room I watched Cora lay completely still and quiet. She looked so peaceful and....happy!
A while back Cora had expressed to me that she loved going to all her doctor appointments at Children's. She said she felt so many good things when she was there. She likes that people who see her listen to what she has to say, she likes that shape doesn't have to explain herself, she said she also likes the feeling of fitting in when she is there.
So as the day was winding down Cora had completed so much....but still had one important piece to finish. THE EXERCISE TEST!!!!! Needless to say the part of the day that just about did my sweet girl in. They hooked her up to many things, EKG, Pulse ox, blood pressure cuffs, you name it it was attached to her. Once she was all wired up like a robot they told her the best news....NOT! She had to do this exercise test for 18 minutes with 10 minutes being the hardest.......all the while she had to breath into this breathing tube with a nose plug. That poor girl! The entire time she was getting hooked up shed give this sad eye look. Once they finished explaining the excerise test to her she gave me one more look! I knew she didn't want to do it.
She was such a good girl though! She did what was asked of her to the best of her ability! Once her time was done I could tell those 18 minutes were like hours to her! She was red all over, she had sweat dripping off her face, and as she was instruvpctwd to lay down I watched her look at me with tears in her eyes! She mouthed " I want to go home!" I teared up looking at my sweet daughter smiled and mouthed back "Soon!"
As she laid there the two employees kept telling Cora to try and relax. She kept repeating I'm trying to them. As I began watching the monitors more closely I realized her heart rate wasn't dropping much! It was still very high as if she was still riding the stationary bike. The next 25 minutes were monitored closely to make sure Cora's heart rate would drop. Praise The Lord it did!
It was finally time to leave. Cora graciously accepted her Target gift card, grabbed my hand, and pulled me out the door. As we were waiting for the elevator she informed me that the test she just did was horrible and she wasn't sure she wanted to do this again in 3 years! I did the only thing I could......I took hold of my girl hugging her and kissing the top of her head!
Blessings Until Next Time!
Drena
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