Daddy's Veins

Sometimes I wish I thought like a nine year old.  It would certainly help me understand Jaelyn much better and avoid saying things that are interpreted differently in a nine year old’s mind than in an adult’s mind.

Last week we began the first of many trips to a cardiologist’s office.  Because of Scott’s death, unexpectedly, at such a young age due to undiagnosed heart issues, her pediatrician wanted her to be screened before her 10^th birthday.  The pediatrician and I wanted to be at least a year and a half to two years out from Scott’s death for Jaelyn’s sake emotionally.   Recently there were some tests in the family that caused us to decide to do it now rather than later, just for peace of mind. 

Once the referral was made to a cardiologist, things began happening so quickly that my head was spinning.   I began having little conversations with Jaelyn, explaining what was going to be happening and trying to explain, simply, what had caused her daddy’s death.  Her greatest anxiety was the cholesterol testing as she is scared to death of needles and a simple flu shot is very traumatic for her.  With lots of prayers and bravery on her part, and my parents’ calm presence, Jaelyn was able to get through the cholesterol testing quickly and with minimal reaction (for her) on her part. We all were thanking God that Jaelyn had been blessed with her daddy’s easy to find veins and not my difficult to find, often hiding veins.

 I then moved to preparing her for the cardiology screening, which I thought would be talking only.  Fortunately I did talk about tests that might be requested and what those would look like.  When we arrived for the cardiology screening we found out that this appointment would include an EKG and an Echocardiogram.  Though noticeably anxious, Jaelyn did fabulous!  The echocardiogram technician really touched my heart when she told Jaelyn that she had a beautiful heart.  It was a blessing to receive the results of these tests and the cholesterol testing before we left the office.  The cardiologist also requested a holter monitor for 24 hours.  Jaelyn wasn’t so sure about that, but once it was on, she adapted quickly and wasn’t self-conscious about it at all.  We are still waiting on the results from that.  If those results are normal, Jaelyn will do yearly screenings for the next 4-5 years, as those are the years when things can change the most and the most quickly.

So, all of that background is to lead up to our conversation during family devotions the other night.  I think we were talking about our prayer request list when Jaelyn asked me about us saying that she has her daddy’s veins.  During the course of our conversation I realized that my explanation of Scott’s death through Coronary Artery Disease and our praise of her having her daddy’s veins was confusing to her as in her mind there is a direct connection between Scott’s Coronary Artery Disease and having her daddy’s veins.  Wow, talk about feeling awful for not realizing where her mind would go with the compliment for having her daddy’s veins.  We had a long conversation as I attempted to explain the difference and that even if she ended up having the same condition as her daddy, that death and significant health issues can be prevented with treatment – simply because of diagnosis.  I believe that she is trying to get her mind around the fact that Scott’s death could have been prevented with simple tests that he hadn’t had (at least we can’t find any evidence that he ever had a cholesterol test).    I did have to chuckle as the medical part of our conversation didn’t last long as she got “grossed out.”  She definitely takes after her daddy in that regard.  Scott would pass out or get lightheaded at the sight of needles and couldn’t stand the sight or talk of blood in a medical sense (he could watch action movies without a problem).  Maybe this is why God blessed both of them with good veins – He knew they couldn’t handle it otherwise!