Day 78 - Thursday March 1, 2012

Some days just seem so long and today was one of them!  All day Bridgett had no appetite and it was very difficult to get her to eat anything.  She had a few little baby bites of different things and hardly drank anything.  She keeps saying her stomach hurts.  Tyler and I took her to the hospital for the CT scans.  She was very weak and walked very slowly and using little tiny steps.  Several people offered to get a wheelchair for her, but I figured it was good for her to walk a little.  She did just fine with the CT's.  The technician gave me a shield and let me stay with her for the whole thing.  They did one set of pictures without contrast, a second set as soon as they gave the contrast, and one about 10 minutes after the contrast had been given.  She had the normal reactions--metallic taste in the mouth and the sensation of heat.  They told her it would feel like she wet her pants, but she wouldn't really.  That made her a little nervous, but she was just fine.  When they were done, her right hand (this is the arm they put the contrast in) was twitching every few seconds.  It hurt her, and she said ouch every time.  He assured me that this was not a normal reaction and he had never seen it before.  He also assured me that he had placed the IV correctly, etc.  I said we would remain at the hospital until it stopped, just in case.  When we helped her out into the waiting room, she said her left knee hurt really bad as well.  Again, not one of the usual reactions.  We waited in the hospital for an additional 15 minutes, and then the twitching subsided.  The knee still hurt, but by the time we got home she didn't bring it up again.  She was very nauseated on the drive both there and back, but didn't throw up.  When we got home she just rested and continued to say that everything in her body was hurting, especially her kidney.  I called the doctors office in the afternoon and they said that the techs told them it would be noon tomorrow before they had any information.  Bummer!  Then, just before the office closed they called and said they had just got the report.  Everything was normal with the CT's just like the blood work--no kidney stones, no cysts, no tumors etc.  Also the urine culture turned up negative.  That's all good and fine I said, but then why is she so sick and miserable.  They said that Dr. Hafen was referring us to an endocrinologist to see.  I felt very frustrated.  She is so miserable, she even said this evening that maybe she should go back to the hospital.  We did everything we could think of to get her to eat or drink.  Aunt Debbi showed up and tried to help as well.  She finally ate a few bites of pudding and then threw up.  I gave her some Zofran and actually would have earlier but she never said she was nauseated. (note to self--when she complains that her stomach hurts, specifically ask if she feels like she is going to throw up) Later on she felt a little better and finally had a yogurt and finished her second six ounce cup of water (for the day).  She slept fairly well, but awoke about 3:30 and I talked to her for a while until she finally slept again.  I'm not getting too much sleep these days, worrying about her and trying to figure out what to do.  I will try for a nap today when Arrianne gets here after school.  Jenn went to the brain injury support group for Provo tonight and got a lot of good information.  I hope to be able to attend next month, and if possible have Bridgett with me.  It's a support group for the injured person and their caregiver(s).