The CT that wasn't to be, was - or ride 'em, cowgirl

The on again, off again, on again, off again CT of Micah's temporal bones was on, again.

Midmorning today when I found my cell phone (it was under the console in my car), there were two messages from Hackensack Radiology Group's office manager. Since I have had absolutely no luck whatsoever in my dealings with HRG, it was Steve's turn to try. He's much more patient and has a longer fuse much of the time (ten years of practice in dealing with me, he should have these skills down pat).

And it was ok to bring Micah in this afternoon, so we threw lunch together, hurried both kids through eating, and got ready to go.

Thea got balky at the idea of riding in the car for no reason other than to provide support to her little brother, the queen of the pre-preadolescent meltdown strikes again. So Steve and Thea got the shopping list, Micah and I programmed the GPS and off to Hackensack we went.

My comfort zone on the NJ Turnpike ends at Newark Airport; this was only my third time driving on my own above Exit 15 (first time in 2007, to Hackensack to USCIS or whatever Immigration is calling itself at the moment to be re-fingerprinted before going to China for Micah; second time in 2008, to go to Micah's ENT's office in Englewood).

We got to the outpatient radiology facility at 3:20 pm, got through the paperwork quickly - it was a bit of a hoot having the woman registering Micah to ask how long has he had this problem? Umm, how about since about day 41 or 42 in utero? It's a congenital defect, he didn't get mutilated by his barber, sweetie.

Despite spending an hour in the car talking about how we were going to have pictures taken for Micah's ears and there would be no owwies involved, when it came down to laying down and getting positioned for the test, Micah was upset so we had tears and snivveling to deal with. Rather than keep pushing him we went back out to the inside waiting area to get calmed down and ready for a second try. I used the "I'll do it first, then you try it" approach.

The second try started with me laying down, Micah sitting on my stomach and the tech using her controls to make the bed go up/down and back and forth. Despite agreeing to try it after I did it, Micah still wasn't thrilled, but we at least got him laying down and they did whatever initial check to check for positioning. More tears, wanting to go home, wanting Daddy, as well as willingness to give up the puppy dog promised him if he cooperated by laying still and quiet (my pediatric nursing professor said that bribes can be an effective tool, so bite me if you think otherwise.)

And then I decided to bag the lead apron, get on the bed with him and hold his hand and hold his chin up, using our Very Hungry Caterpillar stuffed animal to soften the pushing on his chin. Kudos to whoever came up with this toy idea, the curve of the catepillar back fits nicely under the three-year old size chin. Of all the useless stuff animals Micah owns, this was one who proved its worth.

The tech was ok with this unique and somewhat awkward set up and told me to watch my head as we moved in and out, and we were off. Giddy up and get it over with.

And it worked, at least that's what the technician said. No motion artifact blurring the images.

Score one for our team, no sedation needed!

The CT technician had the patience of a saint, for which I am eternally grateful. I am also glad she made no mention of the awkwardness of having to look at my rather abundant backside as I rode the scanner bed sidelying and sidesaddle while holding Micah's chin. A true professional focussing on the task at hand rather than the incidental ugliness that might accompany said task.
And she was good about me asking her no few than half a dozen times, "Are you sure that the images are ok?"

Micah was doling out high-fives and hugs to all as he got ready to leave and spent quite a bit of time saying how "big and brave" he was. He was very pleased with himself, and any memories of the tears and cowardice evaporated. We stopped to get his puppy at Barnes & Noble - he had picked one up a few weekends ago and I had ditched it at the cash register telling him it was broken and needed to go to the doctor.

And then we drove home, in near rush hour traffic, on the Turnpike and Route 1. And got a ticket for having the GPS unit on the windshield. Obstructing the view of the roadway. No good deed goes unpunished, at least in New Jersey, it seems. Bite me, Middelsex County.

Really Stupid Rude People

And I thought that things had pretty much peaked as far as stupidity finding its way into my life, but today, I was proven wrong.

10:30 am, phone rings. The CallerID says Hackensack Radiology Group, so I assume the call is to confirm Micah's appointment Wednesday.

But no.

HRG is calling to say that Micah is too young to have his scan done at the outpatient facility, it needs to be done in the hospital.

Which I had asked the ENT before going ahead and scheduling.

Which the scheduler knew when I made the appointment and gave her Micah's date of birth.

To say that I'm pissed off is an understatement. I am so far beyond pissed off I cannot even see th lights of Pissed Off from where I am.

And so, yet again, I emailed the ENT and officially became one of 'those' patients (or 'those' patients' mothers.) Which sucks.

Happy Half, Thea!

Thea is five and a half today. . . six months to go until six. It's not a major event, but it got a little lost amidst the uproar with getting Micah's CT scheduled.

Stupid Rude People?

Or just fellow humans coming down from an Easter sugar high after biting the ears off of their chocolate bunnies? Bottom line, I don't care. I just wish people would be civil and reasonably helpful.

I got up this morning with the single-minded purpose of making Micah's CT scan appointment. I have a referral for the test, referrals for up to three follow-up appointments with the ENT who ordered the test and a prescription from the ENT for the CT, as well as the phone numbers for the facility where he wants the test done. Easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy. Or not.

Getting the appointment was a two step process because the first schedule I spoke with hung up on me when I went to pull the referral out of my briefcase. Second phone call, after going through everything in terms of Micah's information, the ordering physician, Steve's information (since the insurance comes through his employer), etc. we land an appointment for 10:40 am Wednesday. Fine. Time to program the GPS and figure out how long it's going to take to get there.

Until ten minutes later my cell phone rings (why not call the home phone first, idiot?) and it's the appointment scheduling equivalent of Rosie Perez on crystal meth with the phone manners of a pit bull whose chew toy was taken away. Who tells me that Hackensack Radiology Group has contacted ENT and Allergy Associates and the person spoken with (Simone, see previous post re: dealing with the ENT's office) said that Micah had not been seen in a year and the office was not authorizing the test.

Note to Self: always remember to take blood pressure medicine before engaging with doctors' offices' appointment schedulers, particularly those with fresh lobotomy scars.

This put me in "Don't Screw with Me, Wenches!" overdrive.

Before the gasket blew, I told Rose Perez on crystal meth that I had a signed prescription dated April 3, 2009 from the aforementioned physician for the test as well as an email from the physician stating that no appointment was needed prior to having the test done. Unmoved, she got snippy with me and miraculously my phone saved me by sponetaneously snapping shut and thus hanging up on her.

Then I sent an email to the ENT, who I pester way too often but usually for good reason.

In the time it took me to bang out four over-easy eggs and a pot of oatmeal, he got back to me. And according to the doctor, Simone was tasked with fixing it.

I still called the radiology facility to make sure the appointment was not cancelled. And surprisingly whoever answered that call was amazingly nice.

Crossing Over to the Dark Side 2

Today was a grungy, rainy day, made for staying inside. Unless there is no more milk in the refrigerator, the last of the broccoli was used up for last night's dinner and the mailman did not deliver a clue as to what to make for dinner with the afternoon's mail.

So the kids and I went off to ShopRite in Lawrenceville. This particular grocery store has a place where parents can drop off their children for a maximum of 90 minutes to shop in peace.

I've never been one to even consider this. Thea is usually my helper and would probably prefer staying with me. Micah is constantly on the hunt for new stuffed animals, so the idea that he is going to be exiled to Scrunchy's Playroom has been taking root in my mind. And today was the day - and fortunately Thea was willing to go with him.

Because it's a holiday weekend, the playroom was closing at 4:30 pm, but that still gave me 35 minutes after filling in the paperwork and all of us getting banded like migratory birds. My two were the only ones there, and they were happily watching 'Snow Dogs' when I came back to retrieve them.

And I managed to finish the shopping list in 25 minutes without the human baggage trailing along behind, next to or hanging off of me.

Crossing Over to the Dark Side

Me, at the Garden State Discovery Center's Silver Diner Play Area

I drove the minivan today. Both kids were off from school, we were going to make a trip to the Garden State Discovery Museum. They both love the automatic doors on the van. In three weeks I'm going to drive it down to my mother's so we can go to the National Lutheran Home's Spring Festival, and before we go Steve will make the rear seats reappear so that Thea can be exiled to the back and my mother's friend Dorothy can come along. She had come with us until November 2007, when Micah's car seat took up the other half of the back seat. There are three seatbelts in the back seat of the CRV but it doesn't accomodate two child safety seats and another passenger. So it was time to practice.

Its console is almost like my car's, there's just a lot more vehicle in the back of the thing. There is a feeling of having so much echo-ey space following behind me. There is also not really any good place to attach the GPS. I tried the left upper window, but the cord issues are just too annoying. I tried the console below the radio/ventilation system but the angle was off and the glare on the screen made it awkward.

The arm rest dug into my side a little, but otherwise it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

The Garden State Discovery Museum was busier than our last visit - parents either coping with the end of their kids' spring breaks or the start, and what better way than to turn their little heathens loose in an interactive play space. This time Micah was much more independent (from me) and followed Thea around, happy to do whatever she was doing.

Thea enjoyed the construction site exihibit the most. It has a house framed out and on the second floor kids can put boards up on walls (the boards have holes on each end and the walls have pegs). She patiently plugged away at trying to get an entire wall covered, facing down the little boys who were just as determined to snatch those boards right out of her hands. I, on the other hand, wanted to take one of those boards and just bop the little brats over the head, but instead I just instructed one of the more aggressive little brats to back down - Thea was too busy hanging on to the boards for dear life to tell him herself.

Eventually she got an entire wall covered, but just as soon as she got it finished, admired her work did another little boy come and grab a few of the boards off the wall and start flinging them down the chute. Fortunately it was time to move on to another play area.

After more than three hours of running through the museum, I decided to call it a day, not wanting to be caught in Cherry Hill rush hour traffic. And as thanks for my efforts to entertain them, Thea treated me to 15 minutes of "MOM-mee, I want to turn around NOW!" After she realized the car was not turning around on command, her relentless whine became "I want to play a game NOW."

And if she hadn't been such a fabulous brat, I probably would have made up a game about counting red cars or something, but I was peeved. So I turned up the radio and listened to NPR. Micah was dead to the world, he made it known that he had had enough by laying down on the floor of the mini hockey rink while Thea and I were batting a puck back and forth.

I give Thea credit, she managed a constant stream of whining for more than 40 minutes. So that by the time we were back in Princeton, I took the Alexander exit and went to Steve's office. With the intention of dropping her off at Steve's office since it was 5:15 pm. He gave her a snap out of it spiel and I heaped on a layer of kiss watching Cyberchase and staying up late good-bye. And she managed to put a sock in it for the remainder of the trip home.

It's going to be a long spring break week, at this rate.

Plunk! Plunk! Plunk!

It doesn't take much to make me happy. Tonight Micah was in the bathtub and he asked to get out and go to the potty. And he peed, received the appropriate praise and high-fives and went back into the tub to finish his bath.

So when he said he had to go again, I was somewhat doubtful that his intentions were genuine. But I pulled his wet, wriggling little body out of the tub and plopped him down on the potty seat once more.

And then, he got the face, that deep look of intense concentration and within a moment he pooped. This is a first - or a new first after a hiatus of almost two years. He stayed put for quite a while counting off as he did his business.

So I called downstairs to Steve and Thea. Steve came up to offer his high-fives, Thea brought the camera. (We took pictures of Thea's first time, too, and I don't want him to suffer from second child syndrome.)

I can almost see the end of diapers and pull-ups, almost. Thank goodness for the nurse at Summit School who has probably done more for getting him interested in toilet training than we have.