electrocardiogram

electrocardiogram, aka ekg. just another word i've added to my regular vocabulary. it was requested that we get this test done for leah to check for long qt syndrome, which is an increased risk for those with rett syndrome. it was on that never-ending list of things to do from november and i was told it was on a walk-in basis and would take 5-10 minutes. 

i'm not sure why i ever believe anyone in the medical profession anymore when they tell me anything about a timeline. luckily, i decided against a quick trip in the morning and opted instead to go in the afternoon when we had a bigger window of time. after getting lost and/or being misdirected FOUR times, a kind doctor offered to walk us to the correct site as he was already on his way. 

it was a quick wait. we were in faster than i could peel a cutie for leah. and then we waited and waited and waited and waited for nurse mehri to find the ekg order in the computer. it was nowhere to be found. "are you sure your doctor ordered the test?" "are you sure she's a pediatrician not a family practice doctor?" "are you sure you go to such-and-such clinic?"

really? yes, i'm sure.

after 20 minutes of these and similar questions, the nurse mehri told us she could just enter leah's info manually because we were already there and she didn't want to waste our time. phew. 

leah was wary of the sticky electrodes until we explained to her that they were jewels and she would look just like a princess. i even put one on my hand to shower her it wouldn't hurt. after that, the only trick was to keep her still so as to not rip off any of the 15 nodes. good thing my four limbs are noticeably larger and stronger than hers - and that she seemed to like my out-of-tune rendition of i am like a star shining brightly. nurse mehri continually urged me to keep singing. maybe i'm better than i thought? 

we had a sad leah when it came time to remove the "jewels" - because let's be honest, ripping very sticky electrodes off you chest hurts! all in all, our first ever ekg was a success! results are to come - hopefully those are equally as successful.