Motility study...

...otherwise known as a gastric emptying evaluation. The lady looked at me like I had two heads when I told her we were there for a motility study. Hey, I'm not crazy, that's what the GI doc called it!

So basically they put formula mixed with some radioactive dye through her tube, take a picture, wait 2 hours, then take another picture. So the lady (a different one) asks me what rate she's normally at. I told her 30 mls/hr. She says, "ok, we're going to do a 60ml bolus." WHAAAT!? You cannot put that much in this child! But that's how they do it. Double their hourly rate. I promise her she'll vomit immediately though. So the lady calls the GI doc and asks what we should do. GI doc says do it anyway and if she vomits, she vomits. Okey-dokey. So we proceed to put 60mls in her over 15 minutes. (I'm cringing the whole time and we have chux pads under her chin just in case) The most she normally does is about 45 mls over half an hour and that's when she's on the erythromycin!

So we got it in her and layed her on the table. She did fine for the whole minute and a half it took to scan her. Then we put her back in her stroller (I'm moving her VERY gently during all of this because any sudden or jerky movement will make her spew) and when I put her down I barely bumped the side of the stroller. Whoops. Yup, she vomited. (9:55)

But we're told to come back in 2 hours so we head down to the cafeteria for some early lunch. We stopped in the lobby so I could make a call and Charlie needed suctioned. This is the *worst* thing you can do to her when she's got a full belly! But I suctioned her very carefully and we got through it. *whew*

She vomited again in the cafeteria. (10:25) And again after I changed her diaper. (11:04) And again when we got back to radiology (11:45). And again one more time before they took her back. (11:49) We reported all of these back to them.

So they do another scan. And wouldn't you know the little booger STILL had a bunch of milk in her belly! We won't know exact volumes or anything until later, but from what I could tell out of what was left after the vomiting, she had 1/3 still sitting in her stomach and 2/3 in her intestines. She had to have vomited at least half of what we gave her though. So if my guesstimate is right, in 2 hours she digested 20 mls.

So we all agree she has issues right? I hope now they take me seriously!

Oh and my dear little sis told me how to work my phone so I can send pics to my email so I'll be posting many more pics now. LOL Here's Charlie in the gift shop. I put these adorable glasses on her and she got mad!