Testing At Primary's

For a few months now, my little Shaylee Bug's been coughing, choking and frequently stops breathing at night. We tried everything and finally the decision was made to take her to the amazing and wonderful Primary Children's Hospital for a barium test.

Each of the boys had play dates so it was just me and my Shaylee...and the dreaded freeway. Anyone who's anyone knows I'm deathly afraid to drive the freeway and will avoid it whenever possible, but this was for my daughter and I'd do absolutely anything for her.

Salt Lake and my sense of direction are in no way a good combination. I started to panic when my GPS refused to accept that the address existed. Then my friend told me to program it for the University of Utah Hospital next door. It accepted it so we took off with fingers crossed we wouldn't end up in some other state. We did get lost, but only for a minute and made it on time.

I love Primary's because they are geared to the happiness and comfort of my kids. While we waited Shaylee had a blast watching the fish, cooking up plastic burgers and coloring a pretty picture.

The testing part was horrible, but as always I was allowed to stay with her and hold her through it all. The doctors are amazingly patient there. She had to lay flat on a table with a crazy looking video x-ray machine just inches above her body. She was given a tiny bit of the nasty chalk like barium with a syringe. Then she gulped down a ton through a straw and started crying. We had to get 6-7oz of the disgusting stuff down her and only managed about 4oz before she started throwing it up. Because we were at primary's and the child always comes first the testing was stopped. He said he didn't see anything wrong, but we may have to repeat the test if my doctor wanted more information. They told me next time they'd sedate her and put a tube in so she could be comfortable.

The nurse left the room for a minute and came back with the softest little teddy bear and told my little girl how wonderful she was and how great she did. She cleaned her up and we actually left with a smile on her face...see Primary's is absolutely AMAZING!

On our way out we stopped at the fountains and played for a minute then headed off for her promised McDonald's chicken McNuggets. By the time we made it through the drive thru she was out and slept with her well deserved little bear the entire way home.