Another Blood Draw

Ayden has now had his final blood draw to check his glucose levels.  The results came back normal this time, and I am not at all surprised.  That's the good news.  The bad news is that Ayden is now traumatized about going to the doctor, and it was all unnecessary!

I asked for the very first blood draw to find out if he was nutritionally deficient in some vitamin/mineral, which would have been an easy answer to explain his diaper eating issue.  The results came back showing that not to be the explanation for his diaper eating, but it did show that his glucose was a little high.  The doctor wanted a second blood draw to rule out the possibility of diabetes being a concern.

That second blood draw took place a few weeks later at Ayden and Rylee's 2 year check up.  He also got a couple of vaccination shots that day.  Rylee handled the shots like a champ, but Ayden wasn't at all happy about it.  Then to follow those shots up with a blood draw... It was not a good day for him.  The results the second time around were a little better, but still not within the normal ranges.

Several friends commented after hearing the results, that they felt like his glucose levels were normal for not being fasting blood draws.  Anything over 100 is considered abnormal.  His first test results came back at 117.  The second time was 109.  I was never told he shouldn't eat before these blood draws.  The appointments were both scheduled for right after their naps, so I gave them their snacks while we waited in the lobby to be called back.  This served two purposes for me.  One, they got their snack and two, it kept them occupied and somewhat under control in the lobby of the clinic.  I was told that if the results of the third draw came back high, then we'd have to do buckle down and do a more serious fasting blood draw.

This time though, I didn't feed them anything while we waited.  They had lunch around 11:45am, took their nap, and the appointment was at 3:30.  I asked his doctor about the numbers being within normal ranges for having eaten a snack right before the test.  Her answer was that the perimeters for the test took that into consideration, and didn't need for him to be fasting.

Let me back up.  Ayden was perfectly fine in the lobby at the doctor's office, but as soon as his name was called and we stepped through the door to head down the hall to our little room, he started crying and did NOT want to go any further.  The poor little guy has now developed a healthy fear of going to the doctor.  And that was BEFORE even heading over to the lab!  He's old enough now to remember his previous visit.  As soon as we got called into the lab, Ayden completely lost it and just started screaming.  He sat on my lap for the blood draws and I had to hold him as still as possible.  He got so worked up and tight this time around, that when the lab tech inserted the needle, she couldn't get any blood from him and it took several minutes for her to be able to get it just right to do the draw.  I was so afraid she was going to blow his vein and we'd have to go to the other arm.  Thank goodness that didn't happen!

Did I mention that the lab tech was surprised that this wasn't a fasting draw, since it was to check his glucose?  Yep.  She even double checked with the doctor that she had the right order before taking the draw just in case.  Hmmmm.....

By the time we got called into the lab for his blood draw, it had been at least 4 hours since he had eaten.  No snacks this time, and guess what?  The numbers came back normal.  I feel like this was all not only a waste of time and money, but unnecessary and traumatizing to my son, who will now always have a fear of needles and going to the doctor.

I do appreciate the doctor's concern and follow up after the results of the first test, and understand why that one didn't need to be a fasting draw since glucose wasn't even the concern that time.  I feel like I should have known not to give him crackers before the second test, but I didn't even think about it.  Shouldn't the doctor have said something about making sure we didn't eat right before?  If friends hadn't told me they thought the numbers were normal, considering he had eaten, I would have done the same thing this time around too, and probably gotten similar results!  Then we would have had to do a 12 hour fasting draw.  Another freaking unnecessary blood draw for my poor Ayden!  I'm so glad that didn't happen.

I do like this doctor, and as I said, I do appreciate her initially ruling out there being a problem.  However, I'm really not happy with knowing this third blood draw was unnecessary, and then also the thought that we would be going back yet again, and be even more concerned about the possibility of diabetes, if I hadn't waited to feed them their afternoon snack this time around.