Fear is known

Mighty Quinn goes back to Providence children's hospital for a lung scan. He is to be injected with radioactive fluid so his lung activity will show up on a monitor.

All seems well for him until the nurses grab his limbs and start looking for his well hidden veins for the IV attempts. Before the needles even appear, Quinn now knows all too well what lay ahead.



No needles yet, and he is already upset with no chance of escape. Mom and I hold him down to the table while the nurses stick him. After four unsuccessful tries, Quinn gets a breather. And he is still good for a quick smile.

But then back on the table for another round of unsuccessful tries.

As I'm holding my son down, hearing the pitch change in his screams as the needles are inserted and fished around, I get an increasing urge to just overreact. End the whole doctor visit and come back when they invent a better way of getting an IV into my son. Needles are a big deal for toddlers. It's gotta be near the top of the list for things they hate most in life. Steph and I always make a point to ask for the most experienced staff member in hopes that Quinn might one day not have to get his veins picked apart a million times. The seventh attempt is the one that is usable.

There have been instances in the past where the nurses or doctors finally get an IV in him, only to have it slip out before it is used. So once the line was put in, Quinn's leg is taped to a splint, and wrapped and taped several times, rendering his foot immovable. Then it was on to the lung scan machine. He was taped to the plastic bench and slowly engulfed by the automated scanners.

He was scared pretty much the whole time, but it helped whenever mom was somehow in contact. Steph held his hands as he laid under the scanners for several minutes, and he dozed off.

Although, his awakening wasn't a very nice one.

The lung scans showed the doctors that Quinn is doing fine. The purpose behind these scans is to determine if Quinn will need his stints widened any time soon. I don't think Quinn cares much for doctor visits anymore.

In other news, I will be taking a new job with a new company after Thanksgiving (This is Dan not Steph by the way). It's the first time in my life I've actually negotiated a starting salary upward instead of just accepting an offer. For some that may sound easy, but I was proud of myself. The new job is closer to home and a huge saving on gas. The business travel I do will be shorter in duration and will not include places that my wife reads in the news about and worries. Hope life is going good for everyone.