With Keni's birthday, also comes another MRI for her. Since she gets a yearly MRI it's kind of nice that it's right by her birthday.
Last year at her MRI, she woke up about 20 minutes before the scan was finished but the nurse went in and told her what was going on and Keni did great. They didn't need to give her more anesthesia because she held so still. They said we should try to do it without sedating her next time to see how it goes since she did so well. Fast forward to now, it's been a year so she should be able to hold even more still, right? Well not so much, apparently.
We had been talking to Keni, telling her what to expect, and she was fine with it. A little nervous, as expected, but mostly just excited. We told her to expect it to be super loud and a little clanky. (Is that even a word?) We got there later than we ever have. Her appointment was at 11am this year and in the past it has always been 7 or earlier. We realized we always want an early appointment. Ha. It was a lot more busy. Now I know why people utilize the free valet parking. Surprisingly, they were somewhat on schedule. She was called back about 11:30. The nurse immediately got things rolling. Next thing was the IV. You guys, Keni is a champ at getting IVs. She seriously doesn't ever flinch. This is the first time being at Primary Children's Hospital that they haven't gotten it the very first time. The nurse tried twice. She felt so bad. She told Keni she was quitting her job since she couldn't get it started. Keni thought that was pretty funny. The second nurse tried once and couldn't get it so they decided to call the IV Specials team. They got it right away. Poor Keni had to get poked 4 times. She said it hurt the worst in the arm. The nurses typically start IVs in her hand but after the first nurse missed the first time she tried in her arm, up by her elbow, on the opposite side. She did flinch on that one when they were digging around a bit. But the next two times she was stiff as a board and didn't move.
By the time the IV was in, it was about 12 p.m. and she was headed back. She had her movie (The Sandlot) picked out and was ready to watch it. They took her in the room and explained how everything worked and asked if any of us had questions. None of us did so they sent Joe and I away and told us to come back in 45 minutes. We wanted to be close just in case she didn't do great without the sedation. Well before we could even get down the hall the nurse came and said Keni didn't want to do it and she wanted the sleepy medicine. So basically she lasted 10 seconds. Honestly though, I don't think they tried very hard to make her comfortable. She was already a little nervous because of the IV situation plus she said she couldn't hear her movie and it was REALLY loud in there. We were a little bummed that one of the nurses didn't stand by her and try and talk her through it or let Joe go in and do it. Oh well. Maybe next year. This year she was sedated. She woke up during the middle of the MRI so instead of trying to make it through the rest of the scans they basically just snowed her so when she was done she was super out of it. They usually give a bag of fluids but her IV wasn't working. Luckily, she drank a Sprite so we didn't have to go through that mess again. It's always funny to see what each of the nurses are particular about. This time the recovery nurse was particular about only one parent being back with Keni. This is different than EVERY other time we've been. I was a little annoyed because Keni was the only one in recovery. Not another little human in sight. :( Oh well. This nurse also wanted lunch so she didn't make Keni stay for very long. She wanted to go more than we did. And let's be honest-- we go directly to Dr. Brockmeyer's office which is two doors down so I'm sure we'd be fine if we took her sleeping. Alas, Keni woke up pretty well and decently fast for being so drugged up so that was nice. She didn't/couldn't walk yet so she wanted a wheelchair to go to the Dr.'s office.
We didn't wait very long for Dr. Brockmeyer. And he was in our room as soon as the nurse was out. He showed us the scans, said everything looked fine, and was out. No joke, he was probably in our room for all of 5 minutes. It would have been shorter had Joe not asked him about her cerebellum. On the scans it looks pretty mushed up and mutilated. We wanted to know if there would be any long term affects. Dr. B, of course, said no. Easy for him to say since we're talking 60 years from now and he'll be laying in his grave by then. Haha. Oh well. He was actually a little more cheerful and interactive than his usual self. We'll give him some credit.
So that's it. Everything looks great. Nothing has changed since the last scan and he thinks everything looks fine. We will continue to do yearly MRIs for a few more years to make sure everything is still looking great and then start to space them out a little more.
We are extremely grateful everything has turned out like it has. I can think of at least six people that I know that have kids with HUGE health trials (or have lost a child) right now. I get teary eyed just thinking about it. We are lucky-- Blessed-- beyond measure. During that trying few months, it sucked! But as I look back I can see some things we've all learned. Keni may be little but her testimony is huge. She is already understanding how to identify the spirit and knows the power of prayer. She reminds us, to this day, that SHE felt all the prayers on her behalf. Isn't it amazing. She's six! If she can remember how she felt when those prayers were being said, and how important her testimony is, she'll be doing alright in this world. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment