Carter's appointment

This is the post I wrote up on my LJ about Carter's appointment. Just wanted to put it here too. I wrote it last night.

"So, today was Carter's hematology appointment. We had to be down at Hopkins by 11:30am according to the paperwork. I just took off for the day to make things easier. Well, we thought we could find our way down there from 40, but evidently, we are idiots. We ended up taking a tour of East Baltimore and even a bit beyond. I told Chris at one point that we were going away from the big buildings so that wasn't a good sign. That used to be mine and Mandi's way of guiding through Baltimore. Drive towards the big buildings. For the most part, it works. I called the office and told them we were running a bit late and she gave us directions. You would think I would know that area better, but I wasn't driving. We finally got to Hopkins and found our way through the garage.

Wow, this place is crazy! We had to pull a number like at the MVA and wait to be signed in. Then we went to a different area to wait to be called back. They called Carter back for his vitals and I saw him get his blood pressure taken for the first time. Yeah, he didn't like that too much! Luckily, I had thought to bring Best Friend, or his stuffed monkey, and that helped him through some of the day. They had this cool chair that Carter just sat in and it weighed him. He's 36lbs and 39inches. Not too much of a difference since his check-up. Then we waited some more.

Finally we got called back. A doctor told us that she was there to do the initial exam and to do the family history. We talked for a long time about Carter's entire life and my pregnancy with him. Then we discussed me and my family's long medical history. Then Chris had his turn but he didn't have too much to discuss. She then examined Carter. After that, she went out to review his file and to get the other doctor. They came back in and the more senior doctor examined Carter again. By now, Carter was getting tired and cranky. It was now after 2pm! They made some marks on his tummy to measure a few things. Then we all sat around discussing what they thought.(Sorry this is so long winded, I just want to get it all out)

They basically said that his spleen is a size that is just slightly too big to write off and not worry about and not big enough to be extremely worried about. They are pretty sure it is not anything very serious, especially since he's not displaying any other symptoms. They ordered another round of blood tests and another sonogram, this time done with doppler. They mentioned that they were going to test again for mono. Apparently, kids can have mono and not even show signs of it like teenagers and adults! They are wondering if the labs before didn't show mono because it hadn't developed enough yet. So, after a long visit, we were walked over to the phlebotomy area.

This was the part I was dreading. As soon as Carter saw the room, he started crying. He HATES getting his blood drawn. Chris had to hold him in the chair, I held Carter's leg and one arm while two techs had to take four pediatric vials of blood from him. I was heartbroken to see him so scared. He kept trying to pull at the rubber tourniquet saying "It hurts!" He didn't even want the band-aid on him. But we made him leave it on for a little while just to make sure it clotted and all that stuff. We left then after three hours of being at the office. Oy! I'm glad I didn't plan to go back to work!

We hadn't eaten lunch yet because...well, no reason. I just wasn't thinking about it. We stopped to eat at John's, this sub shop in Canton that Chris and I used to always eat at when we lived there. Then, since it was my dad's birthday, we stopped by their house. We had decided to just keep Carter up instead of letting him lay down for a nap and risking him not sleeping tonight.

So, now, we have to schedule the sonogram and then wait for the bloodwork to come back. Then after all the tests are complete, we will schedule another appointment with Dr. Casella. Yet again, it's a wait and see, but at least now I have a bit more peace about it all. Two doctors looked us straight in the eyes and said that they were not very worried about my son."