Carson's MRI

We woke up early and headed to the hospital. We checked Carson into Short Stay and then waited to be called back. It was finally our turn so we headed back to semi-private room while four different nurses asked him the same questions, checked his blood pressure, and temperature. It was annoying. Another nurse came in and said that they would get us in as close to 9:00 as possible, that would be an hour later than what was scheduled. So more waiting and waiting. Ryan was great trying to keep him distracted and entertained while I dealt with all the logistics. How many times do they need to ask if he's allergic to something? I'm glad they asked but seriously, when you ask, right it down and then coordinate with the other nurses. And how many times do they have to ask who to send the results and still not have it right?

Anyway, the time came for him to get the iv. I asked if they could give some kind of numbing cream so they did which helped a lot. Carson was pretty nervous, as was I, but he did really well. Even with the topical lidocaine it still hurt because the valve wasn't opening and they had to work their magic to get it in but they did it first try. Carson kept complaining that it was bothering him but he tried his best to ignore it. We told him that if he was really good then we would go get donuts after and he could go play video games at Grandma's for as long as he wanted. So the rest of the time we were at the hospital he kept talking about a chocolate donut with sprinkles.

After more waiting they rolled him down to Imaging on a bed with Dad snuggling him. They had the lights covered with a design with fish that made it look like you were underwater. Carson loved that! I got changed into scrubs so I could go into the MRI room with Carson. We took him back and put him on the MRI table and started Versed. I was a little nervous for this part because when Gwen got her tubes, I went back when they put her to sleep and I hated it! She got really agitated and upset and then her eyes rolled back and she was out. That was not a fun experience for me. When Carson started feeling the Versed, he stared getting agitated too so I had to hold him down but once I started humming "I Am a Child of God" he called down immediately. I kept expecting him to pass out but he just wouldn't go to sleep! He was very chill as long as I kept humming but he would not close his eyes completely. He would start breathing heavily and I would think that he was almost out but then he start moving around and waking himself up. The nurse kept asking if he got restless before he falls asleep and I wanted to say duh! Are you surprised it takes us an hour to get the kids in bed at night? (I wasn't so much of a fan of the nurses.)

It was pretty funny watching Carson trip on the meds though. He would grab the nurses arm and say "got you!" Then he would laugh and giggle. After about 20 minutes trying to get him to go down, Carson woke right up and exclaimed "Did you guys see that?? I just saw dancing teddy bears!!" Then the nurse gave him the last of the Versed and he was out. All the nurses were really surprised how much it took to get him asleep. They had to give him and adult size dose!

I went back to the waiting room and told Ryan that he was finally under but at that point it was already 10:30 and he had to go to work. So he left and of course the first thing Carson asks when he comes out is where his dad is. We ended up at the same room we started. I asked him if he remembered the dancing teddy bears and he said he did but I don't really think he knew what I was talking about. We had to wait a while before we could go because they had to make sure he could eat without throwing up. It was 12:30 before we finally left. Made for a long day but he was finally able to get his chocolate donut with sprinkles.

The next day I called for results. When the nurse called me back she told me that results came back normal. I was confused and had some questions she couldn't answer so she said she'd have the head nurse call me later, which she did. She read me the results and my interpretation was his neck looked abnormal until they re-positioned his head and then it was normal and pretty much because he was so young they're not going to worry about it. I just didn't feel comfortable with that so I called the Seattle doctor. He hadn't gotten the results yet but he also wanted a copy of the CD of the actual MRI so their radiologist could look at it. The next day, I got a voicemail from the Seattle doctor saying that they got the results and everything looks completely fine but they still want a copy of the MRI on file. It's weird that there was a problem and now there's not but I'll take it!! He's "normal" so now he can play sports and be wild and crazy just like before! Such a relief to know that miracles do happen!!!