MRI Complete

What a long morning! It started out with waking up to a very sick Gabby. She had a fever and apparently the start of the flu. Since she obviously was in no condition to leave the house, Mike stayed home with her and I left for the hospital at 5:20am. Mike wanted me to cancel the appointment, but it has taken me so long to finally get to this point, I really didn't have the energy to start over. Even though I certainly didn't want to deal with this alone, I knew it was the right thing to do.

Raquel didn't particularly care for being woken up so early and then put in the car, but she really did great! I was surprised at how many families were already there when I arrived, since I had the first appointment, but that was just for checking in and paperwork. Besides having to wait for maybe 20 minutes, the rest of it went very fast.

The MRI department is shared with an adjoining hospital, so once it was Raquel's turn, we were escorted to the MRI area, which was a ten minute walk from where we were playing in the waiting area of Children's Hospital.

They had a bunch of cool toys in there and at one point, when Raquel spotted her snacks in the backpack and got mad because she couldn't have any, I put on her music. Not only did that distract her, it also brought other parents in there to dance with their kids! Although Raquel's situation was much different than the other kids, there was this common bond between the parents. The hugs and well wishes I received from complete strangers was very sincere.

Once we reached the MRI department, we were immediately taken to the anesthesiologist, who could not have been any nicer. I told him that I had reservations about putting her to sleep, and he thoroughly explained the process, and told me all about them using the highest technology imaginable. He also reminded me that they do MRI's all day long and even on newborn babies. He did make me feel a little better.

After our little chat, I layed her down on the table and he put a strawberry scented mask over her face, which she hated, but he already prepared me for that. She slowly started to stop fighting it and he turned her head so I could kiss her cheek one last time. Then he asked me leave so they could start the IV. No pictures - it went really fast and I was in tears. :-(

But after only 35 minutes, he wheeled her out and we were doing the same ten minute walk back to recovery at Children's.

And after another 30 minutes, I was able to see her and help wake her up. She smiled when she first saw me.




After some apple juice and a little popsicle, the smile was gone and she was beyond grumpy. I think she just wanted to leave. That, plus she wanted to consume something more than apple juice and a popsicle - she was starving! But because of the anesthesia, solid food was not recommended for several hours. Try explaining that to a starving 3-year old. She was not pleased.

She fought with the nurses and made it really difficult for them to take her vitals, which they needed to do in order to discharge her. They were somehow able to manage, and she carried on all the way to the car. Once I put her in the carseat, she was all smiles - she realized we were going home.

I'm so glad this is over with. Her neurologist should have the results back early next week and we'll go from there.