We were supposed to put the Holter on Namine last week, actually, but we forgot about it. To be more precise, we forgot about it until after therapy. So we waited until this week, since Namine only has physical therapy once a week now.
It was completely up to us when to put the monitor on Namine, so we could have just put it on any old day. But the whole idea behind her wearing it for a day was to get a clear picture of how her heart is doing, and it’s more beneficial to cardiology to have a broader spectrum of activity.
Namine was unfazed last night when I put the leads on her. She’s been poked, prodded, injected, drawn from, analyzed, and tested so many times, she’s used to it. I sometimes lament that this is normal for her, but Namine doesn’t seem to mind. She just rolls with it, and so do we.
The Holter monitor came with a pouch and strap, and the situation was not unlike the setup when she had to come home with an IV for getting her vancomycin.
Namine was totally cool with carrying around a little purse then — it was an accessory to her, and little more than that — and she was cool with it today, too. It was a little awkward; it took a little getting used to, scooting around with it strapped across her chest, but she made do.
Namine didn’t let the Holter slow her down in therapy, either. If the goal was to record her heart while she worked hard, then she fulfilled that goal and more. She’s been working on kicking, and she certainly didn’t slack off today.
Namine got to bed late last night because it took me a while to get her leads sorted out and attached (although she was happy to help me with the colors), so we let her stay up until then tonight. She had to have the monitor on for a full 24 hours, after all.
The one downside to this is that she didn’t get a bath tonight. If she had, then she’d be up really late! That’s okay, because I have off tomorrow, so she can just get one in the morning.
Namine was none too happy about having to remove all that adhesive. But I wasn’t about to mince words; I told her it would hurt. I told her I would be as gently as I could, but yes, it would hurt. She accepted it, telling me to just get it done, and she even helped remove some of the tape.
When we were done, I kissed her good night. She kissed me back with a smile, then frowned. “That was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done. That was way worse than getting a blood draw.”
I said that may be, but it was also important that Dr. Block (her new cardiologist) get an up-to-date and accurate reading of how her heart was doing.
“Yes, but it was still stupid.”
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