No, that's not how many tests I'm giving my students between now and the end of the school year. I'm on leave - remember? That number represents the number of medical tests Andrew will undergo while we begin the assessment process.
The first thing our social worker wanted us to do was to take Andrew to the pediatrician to see if she wanted to test Andrew for any possible medical conditions that could explain his behavior. So, I took Andrew yesterday. The pediatrician is thoroughly competent, if somewhat distant. She took copious notes about his language and asked me dozens of questions about his appetite and his interactions with peers. Yesterday was even the first day she had ever joked with me, laughing after he stepped off the scale. He currently weighs 37 pounds. Three more pounds and he can switch to a booster seat in the car. I joked that it was time to fill him up on cake and ice cream and she chimed in with "Ah, the summer diet."
As we walked out the door, she handed me three sheets of papers with tests that she wants to run on Andrew. He has to have 24 different blood tests, two urine tests, and one MRI. She wants to check his chromosomes, his metabolic something-or other, and his brain. Our social worker told us that the psychiatrist was glad to hear the name of our pediatrician because she is so thorough.
I went this morning to a small lab near my gym. It isn't as busy as many of the other labs in town and it's walking distance to a bakery. I wanted to know how many vials of blood would be taken and how long all of these tests would take. I wanted to have a strategy going into this; I don't want to overwhelm Andrew with too much on one day. Unfortunately, the technician told me that there would several tests she couldn't run and that the only place to do them was the hospital. Also, it appears that Andrew will have to fast for eight hours before one of the tests.
The hospital is only 3 blocks from our house - so that's a plus. A serious negative is that I'm sure it will be packed, unlike the little lab I visited today. I think I'll find the lab tomorrow and the just pick a day next week to go. I suspect I might make cookies before we go to the lab. I don't know who'll need them more, Andrew or me.
2 comments:
yikes. that's a whole lotta tests. We'll all have to send loving thoughts to Andrew on the big day (and you too).
I feel sorriest for him about the fast.
Mary,
I feel confident that he won't be poked 25 times. But, he could be out a several vials of blood or we might have to go back a few times. I just can't imagine that the labs can run all those tests on a just a few small samples of blood. I hope I'm wrong.
I'm not looking forward to the MRI. Apparently they'll knock him out, but he'll freak when he sees that machine.
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