Friday, June 08, 2007

Let me tell you about a thing called a milk scan

This morning we brought Kiernan to CHEO for the dreaded milk scan. Except it wasn't quite so dreaded anymore because I decided to call CHEO the other day and confirm the information I'd been given. For me, getting 16oz of breast milk for the appointment was so overwhelming I decided I needed to beg to not have to bring that much. So I called, and guess what. They said "bring as much as you can". Fiouf! I managed to get 8 oz and didn't feel awful for not having more than that. Then I confirmed that I had to get him to fast for 8.5 hours before the test. They said "no no, for his age he only has to fast for 4 hours"
Good grief!!! How much more manageable is all of that? Why the hell did they have to scare me and put me in panic mode at the thought of an inconsolable Kiernan, when he wasnt going to be fed all night (he still gets up at least once or twice to eat between midnight and 8am).
So, that being resolved, I wasn't dreading the test too much. He was cranky this morning but I put him in the mei tai and walked up and down the street until he fell asleep. Then I slouched on the couch with him strapped to me and fell asleep too until it was time to go.
So, for anyone who is interested, let me tell you what a milk scan entails.
They took the milk we brought and mixed some radioactive agent into about .5 oz of the milk (daddy surmises we will have a superhero on our hands now... we will call him the "Milkman!") and then he had half an hour to drink as much more milk as he could. He drank all 8oz that I brought! Next he was strapped to a table and put under a machine where he was to stay for an hour as it took 180 pictures of his stomach digesting the milk. We were allowed to sit next to him and entertain him, and he was allowed to have his soother. It went WAY better than I expected and he barely cried at all. I was really impressed.
After the hour, they assess how much the stomach has emptied. If it isn't at 50% then you get up and leave for 30 minutes - Kiernan's was at 26%, then you come back and they take another picture. If it still isn't at 50% then you do the same thing again - Kiernan's was now at 46% so we had to wait again. The test can take a maximum of 2 hours. So either your stomach is 50% empty, or the two hours are up.
Now we wait a week to hear anything from the doctor. My totally unqualified eyes thought that it didn't look like he was experiencing reflux. But what do I know? :) I wonder if any useful information will come from this.

Here are some photos of our trooper:

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

We are TOTALLY getting some of those comfy velcro straps for his bed...

Anonymous said...

I'm glad that went so well. Neither of my kids would have lasted 10 seconds being strapped down and it would have been hell.

Some kind of Mom said...

OMG POOR KIERNAN! I just want to give him a big hug!!! I'm happy to hear everything went well. What an amazing little guy you have!!!

Lara said...

It really wasn't bad at all, it's like he didn't realize he was being restrained - thank goodness.

Anonymous said...

Well that was heart-breaking! I hope they got a good look and can take good care of him from a distance now! :)