Fun with medical testing

July 18/19

NOTE: this photo has nothing to do with this post...it is just really cute.

How do you spell aggravation? I-D-U-R-A-T-I-O-N

Yep – new word for my vocabulary. It all started with the follow up to Charlotte’s appointment at the international adoption clinic.

First the good news: all is well. All the dreaded blood tests (AIDS, Hepatitis) and other basic blood work, urinanalysis and yes, even the stool samples came back perfectly fine.

So, the bulk of our visit was spent on the topic of choice – poop. We’re down to giving Charlotte the medicine once every 2 days, but she still can’t seem to go without it. The doc recommended keeping her on the lactulose pretty much indefinitely, as monitored by our family doctor. We also discussed using the mineral oil stuff instead. It is called lanosil (or something like that). It looks like red jello and seems to taste a whole hellva lot better based on Charlotte’s reactions when we give it to her. (i.e. she eats it and smiles rather than having to be restrained while we shoot meds down her throat, which is conveniently open because she is screaming). The drawback of the mineral oil is that she has to be given extra vitamins because it interferes with the natural absorption of vitamins from her food. I believe this is because the oil essentially greases her intestines, but don’t quote me on that.

Anyway, enough about poop! There will be no more talk about poop on this blog, until we have conquered the problem, at which point there will be a victory post.

Back to the international adoption clinic visit. I had promised poor Charlotte a needle-free trip, but unfortunately that was not to be. I had forgotten that we still needed to do the skin test for tuberculosis. I remember having it done to me in high school, and it was no big deal. Apparently things have changed (I say sounding like a old person).

TB skin test now involves using a needle to inject some stuff just under your skin. Then the amount of swelling is measured. Anything over 10 mm is considered positive, and this result must be read 48 to 72 hours after the injection.

So Charlotte had the needle and I held her down and (again) she gave me the “How can you do this to me?” look that makes me want to cry. UGH. Then we had to decide whether to come back to the hospital to have the results read, or just see our family doc. Since I was feeling a bit cocky from the all the other results being so positive, and I really didn’t want to hike back to the hospital, I elected to just go to our family doc.

And that my friends, is where we learned a new word and the fun began. 48 hours later we went to our local clinic and the nurse whipped our her special ruler and declared the redness measured 15 mm., which would mean that the test was positive. AHHHHHHH. She assured me, however, that she felt is was negative because it was not indurated. There is no induration? What, what the hell? I have a pretty good vocabulary and I’ve never heard that word. Then she filled out a little card which she had fax to the public health department (so now we’re on file – GREAT), and suggested that we go back to CHEO to get them to read the test ‘just in case.’ Suddenly, the little visit to the clinic that was supposed to take 2 minutes of our lives and then we were to go swimming (AJ kept reminding me) and then out for AJ’s birthday party, was now a “THING.”

Now we have to race back home, call CHEO and find out if they want us to come in so they can verify that the test was negative. Of course they do.

So, the next morning we head for the hospital, keeping in mind that although this is a pain in the butt, I am eternally grateful that I live in a city that has the facilities to check for these things and ensure that my child is healthy.

The trip was mercifully quick. The nurse that works in the adoption clinic had a look, and she was also unsure, and since Charlotte comes from a region of China where there have been recent outbreaks, everyone wanted to be completely sure. So, a woman from the TB clinic in the hospital is called to have a look. Now I’m getting nervous. After much poking, pressing, rubbing and drawing (to mark the induration area vs. the redness area), the verdict is that although Charlotte has 15 mm of redness, she only has 4 mm of induration, which is OK. By this point the poor soul is crying and won’t let anyone near her arm.
So, for any of you who are planning to have this test in the future, remember. It is the induration that matters!