so apparently, the 5th time is the charm for MRI's.

well i was trying to wait to write about caleb's MRI because i wanted to upload a couple of videos from the experience that would provide some comic relief, but....clearly i don't know what i'm doing in the "upload your videos & put them on blogger" department.

so, instead i'll just do the same ol' boring pictures-and-writing post.

1)  waking caleb up at 4:45 in the morning to provide a turkey sandwich for him wasn't the easiest thing in the world, but i would definitely do it again if i had to.  he ate about a quarter of a sandwich, part of a pop tart {i just started pushing any food after he didn't eat more of the sandwich} and drank part of a pediasure.  then it was back to bed for us both.

2)  i think that was what made the difference in him not starving until 1pm.  he was able to drink until 11am, and also have popsicles so he pretty much thought he was hot stuff eating as many popsicles as he wanted to until 11.  the day before he had picked out superhero popsicles to give him extra power for the MRI.  i didn't hear one complaint about food, or liquids after those had to be cut off.  he was a serious trooper.

3)  before we left for utah, ben had wanted to give caleb a priesthood blessing, but during all of the craziness we had forgotten.  so luckily, my dad gave both caleb and i blessings.  i was so grateful to be in a home where that was a part of this experience.  there is just something about hearing again that God loves you, is with you and will provide comfort that brings peace like nothing else.  so thank you dad.

we arrived at the hospital, super caleb and i, and got checked in.  just a few minutes later my fabulous SIL allison, who is a nurse & has been a big support during all of caleb's physical issues, showed up for moral support.  i was grateful for her comic relief and her generosity, and also her medical background.  she's one of my favorite people in the world.

{super caleb and aunt allison}

after being checked in we were taken to our temporary room where the IV was going to be administered.  as nervous as i had been the night before, i felt a lot more calm about it as we got ready for it.

i had told caleb everything about the MRI before we had arrived at the hospital except for the IV part.  i knew he would be anxious and hyper-focus on that and it would make things worse.  but when we got in our room, i talked to him about it.

"okay caleb, there is one part that is going to be a little bit hard.  in order to go to sleep and take that long nap we talked about, the nurses need to put some medicine in your body.  and the way to put the medicine in it is through a tube called an IV.  and it's kind of like a shot, and it will go in your hand and and yes it's going to hurt a little bit."

immediately he started to panic a bit.  

"NO!  i don't want a shot!  i don't want to do this!"

but i said,

"hey buddy, i know that this is hard but you are strong enough to do this.  i'm here with you and aunt allison is here with you, and you can squeeze my hand as hard as you need to when it hurts.  but it will only be for a minute, and then it will be over.  so you're going to need to use all of those super powers from your cape to be brave.  you can do this.  you are strong and it's going to be okay."

i do affirmations with caleb a lot.  and they actually work.  and it did this time, where he calmed down and just said quietly, 

"okay." 

the hospital gave caleb a little "buddy" which was a doll dressed in a hospital gown, and he was able to help give his buddy an IV.  

i highly recommend doing this for any kid {who's old enough to understand} having to get an IV because it was a step-by-step that caleb was able to have explained to him.  then he sat in my lap with his head against my chest and his arms wrapped around me, watching a movie to one side, but unable to watch what the nurses were doing on the other.  they were awesome though, explaining things as they went.

"okay caleb, you feel that cold wetness on your hand?  that's just me washing it, just like we washed your buddy's hand.  now we're going to put in the straw....{also known as the "needle" but i guess straw was a more kid-friendly term}"

i braced myself and held him close.

but he didn't even cry.  he yelled twice, in a "ARRRGH!  AAAARRRGGGH!" kind of way, and then it was over.  and they explained to him that now they were putting on his bandage like his buddy now had and the worst part was done.

{just after the IV.  he looks worse than he actually was}

whether it was the cape, the buddy, the pep talk beforehand or the priesthood blessing i don't know, but i'm guessing it was the combination of it all.  he did great and didn't cry one tear throughout the process.

he was given a different sedation this time from the previous 4 times, one that would make him more naturally fall asleep instead of all of a sudden BOOM!  he's lifeless and limp.  

{waiting for the anesthesia to kick in}

so we laid him on the bed for the MRI, and he was administered the sedation meds.  i stroked his forehead and hair, and talked to him until he fell asleep.  

and again, i don't know what it was this time, but i was calm and didn't freak out when they wheeled him in the room.

since i had been fasting up until that point and it was about 2:30pm, allison and i went to get something to eat while the hour-long MRI went on. when we were done we waited in the room until caleb was finished and we went with him to the wake-up-from-sedation room.  {and yes that is its official name.  not really.}

{zonked out.}

he slept for a long time while allison and i kept ourselves busy being dorks and making videos.  finally he woke up, and again...did so great coming out of the anesthesia.  he was really sleepy and said several times that he was "confused" but didn't scream and rage against the machine like he had the other times.  {or like the girl 3 beds down from him was doing.}

{sleeping prince awakens}

we slowly gave him some juice & cookies to make sure his stomach was okay, then took him to the bathroom, waited a few minutes more and then were able to get ready to go.  

 {being fed oreos by his lovely aunt}

the whole thing took about 4 hours and i was extremely grateful that it went smoothly.  

the rest of the night he took it easy, resting for the most part on the couch and watching movies.  i was so proud of his bravery and ability to handle things that scared him.

{a little confused, but ready to go home.}

to not overload any readers with my ability to shove too much info in to this,  i'll write about his diagnosis in my next posting.



***also a huge shout-out to the staff of PCMC.  we love you!

and if you're interested, here's the posting i wrote from caleb's last MRI.

MRI update.

i was hesitant to post this because really....we don't know much. but i've been asked a couple of times about the outcome of the MRI & this is easier than making a lot phone calls/sending emails. so here is the deal:

we spoke with a nurse at shriner's hospital who read the doctor's report that said yes, caleb's little water-filled cysts that line part of his spine have increased in size (this is why the MRI was done, to check to make sure the cysts had not grown). not what we were hoping to hear. this means that if these increase in size, they can put pressure on his spine causing headaches & possibly more severe problems...

also he has 2 vertebrae in his spine that are fused together that may cause him trouble as he continues to grow.

the nurse was not sure if the cysts had grown to a point that he needs spinal surgery and also didn't know if the fused vertebrae needed to be separated, but referred us to a spinal surgeon for a consultation & to explain in more detail what's going on.

so long story short...we are heading up to utah for our appointment next thursday and will hear more then. i'm not sure what type of internet access & time i will have to be able to do much blogging, but will do my best to update.

for now, we are staying positive. we are hoping that spine surgery isn't necessary but also are willing to accept it if it is. so far all of caleb's physical complications have been a huge learning & faith-building process. we have felt heavenly father guide us this far and know that no matter what, we will continue to be guided.

overlooking the 2 major tantrums our 3-yr. old has thrown in the past 2 days, this little boy is a blessing. okay okay, i'll even take him with tantrums included. i mean seriously, just look at that face.

MRI day.

so today was caleb's 4th MRI in his little lifetime. he has to have a yearly full-spine MRI to check on these tiny fluid-filled cysts that line his spine that he was discovered to have (during MRI 2). they were too small to worry about last time, and we are hoping the outcome for this one is the same. spinal surgery kinda scares me.

(here is a drugged out caleb from MRI's of yesteryear. MRI #2.)

whatever the outcome, MRI's for a child are never fun. (he came out of it at 10am and still can't walk on his own here at 5pm because of the after-effects of the anesthesia.) he has to be starved of any food & liquid for hours before, he has to be put completely under & so that means an IV pick. then caleb is always a little fiesty, so he has to get the extra dose of knock-out meds so that he will lay completely still.

making the recovery time last twice as long.

a brain MRI lasts usually 30-40 mins, a full spinal lasts 1 1/2 hours. here are some fun pictures to remember this fun day.

(right after getting the IV, not a happy camper. who can blame him?)

(snuggling with dad under the warm blankets. highly recommended if you have your kid go through this.)

(sleeping beauty slept...)

(and slept...me w/ dave, our awesome RN)

then sleep-deprived ben & lynsey got a little bored. only 3 hours of sleep the night before can do a number on you when you're waiting 2 hours for your child to wake up.

so ben took this little gem of me...

and then this too-close-for-comfort jabba the hutt impersonation.

trying to wake sleeping beauty.

well the day is over. just like the fairy tale, sleeping beauty woke with true love's kiss and went home to take a 3 1/2 hour nap...after eating 12 mini pancakes. poor little guy is still acting loopy & can't walk straight. but this too shall pass. making a candy chain right now for the countdown to next year's follow-up MRI. gotta find something to enjoy about these things, right??