Little Bella has captured the hearts of our family and everyone that meets her. We want to share her story with all.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Wednesday

This morning I meet with the account manager of a home health agency.  Next step is to meet the medical director.  All steps in the journey homeward.

Bella had the ABR hearing test done today.  She needed to be sedated for this.  Good luck!  You can tell when an Attending doesn’t know your daughter well when he says, just order a second dose to have at the bedside if you need it.  After 2 does of sedation, she got through the first part of the test and woke up.  So then they tried to figure out what else they could give her to keep her still for another hour.  Not easy with Bella.   She is so used to sedation that she requires so much more than normal.  So far the results are: right ear is fine.  Left ear is showing some abnormalities.  That’s why it’s so important we do this 2nd test.  Is there really a hearing loss in the left ear or not?  I knew that Lasix could effect hearing, but I didn’t realize that the Gentamicin could cause hearing loss.  The audiologist made it clear that she doesn’t necessarily have any hearing loss, but that her screening is abnormal on the left side and we need to take a closer look.  After almost three hours, the Audiologist suggested we re-schedule.  We’ll either have to have the attending here or have anesthesiology come and help.  june 17 002Where are my anesthesiology fellows when I need them?  :)  Bella got so mad when she felt the first effects of the sedation.  It took me almost a half hour to calm her down after everyone left.  Now she’ll probably sleep the afternoon away.  :)

Bella before the sedation wore off

I was reading through the audiologist’s referring documents and was sad to see the long list of diagnoses.  One I hadn’t seen before was: Respiratory Distress with Impending Failure.  Ouch.  I am so grateful Bella is a fighter.

4 comments:

Lacey said...

when I got Jax medical records for our suit, It was heartbraking to see some of the stuff they put down. Hopefully home is coming soon. Has all the stomach stuff resolved?

Anonymous said...

So sorry about the sedation. Preslie fights it too, but eventually it gets the best of her. Best to sweet Bella today..you keep fighting sweet girl!

Heather said...

She is a fighter ... don't ever forget that!Ever.

My name is Sarah said...

Hi little Bella, This is Sarah. I have not been able to write because we have been traveling but we have been checking on you every night at the hotel. I love that you are using your feet. Did you know that when I was your age one night I used my foot and kicked my intubation tube out. They decided that day to start tying my hands and feet. I did not like that so much. Hang in there sweet girl.