This is a big doctoring week for Nora. First thing yesterday morning, Ted took her in for her 6-month fasting blood draw to be sure that her body is tolerating the diet well. Having done this a few times now, we know that there are a few people at the lab who are able to get her little tiny veins the first time. That saves a lot of time and misery, but she is so brave and such a good sport.
Right after her blood draw, I took her to her regular pediatrician for her 4-year check up. She’s right on in her growth and development–about 78th percentile height and 72nd weight, healthy BMI. She’s growing as expected; the doctor did not think that the diet has impacted her growth at all so far. Chatty Miss Nora charms everyone with her observations about everything around her. She was also able to do the eye test by reading the letters on the chart!
The lab also needed a urine sample but was not able to get one when Ted had her in for the blood draw, so I was able to catch one after the doctor’s appointment and take it up to the lab on the same trip. As we were on our way out, a lab-coated young man chased after us and asked us to come back for one last thing. The tech made a mistake when doing the first blood draw, and they needed a little more blood to do one more test. Boo. There is one tech who has formed a sweet bond with Nora and chatted her up while they prepped everything. It wasn’t until the needle was about to go in that Nora realized that they were going to poke her again. The super-skilled tech was able to get her vein on the first try and finish it up. He mentioned that there were some rare tests in the order so he mis-calculated the number of vials of blood they needed, as different tests go out to different labs.
As we were packing up I told the techs about Nora’s condition, the diet, and the reason for her many blood tests. They thanked me for sharing and were so happy that she is doing well now. It must be tough for them to see little people come in for big blood tests and have to guess at why they are there, especially when they are so sweet and form a bond with their repeat customers–I am sure they are trained not to ask about medical issues.
Nora was a super champ through it all. She went home with an extra Barbie bandaid for later, another blue tourniquet (seat belts for her babies), and another squishy purple latex glove filled with water. She also told everyone she met that she wants to be a doctor when she grows up. That would be fabulous.
Next we are off to see Dr. Wray at the Keto Clinic at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland on Friday for a check-up and to go over the blood test results. Nora adores Dr. Wray and keeps asking when she gets to go see him. We will also bring Anders this time and plan to get some fun in on this trip, possibly going to the zoo or OMSI.
