Maizie's MRI

Today was the big ol' MRI. We woke up extra early to be sure that Maizie would not forget and get a glass of water or eat her breakfast. When I went into her room she was putting together a puzzle on her bed. Her only light, a flashlight. The puzzle went a lot smoother once we turned on the bedroom light. I have no idea how long she was up before us but I imagine it had been quite a while.

At the hospital we checked into peds and the nurse insisted on using Emla cream before giving Maizie the I.V. It was a sweet gesture but for Maizie this numbing cream is nothing short of torture. Maizie has impeccable manners when it comes to dealing with the medical professionals so she smiled big and tried to stay positive while waiting for the nurse to remove the cream. Whenever the nurse left the room Maizie would say, "When is she going to take this stuff off? It itches...under there...under my skin...I can't take it." She can take the minor pain of an I.V. or blood draw without any difficulty. But, put some mushy white stuff on her arm with tape and she really has a tough time. Next time we agreed we would refuse the white stuff.There were very few nurses on the floor so our very needed nurse had to leave the room many times to answer the phone and help other patients. Some poor kiddo was screaming while getting a catheter. Maizie said, "I think that child is not feeling well." Most definitely not. Catheters are no fun at all.

Luckily, I was prepared with a wide assortment of "Maizie entertainment". She had been practicing cutting out hearts and brought several with her along with some stickers. I pulled out the markers and she began making a card for the nurse, the anesthesiologist and the techs at the MRI. Too sweet. She also brought a little paper umbrella, the kind you put in drinks... for the nurse. She had seen one at a Japanese restaurant and asked if we could buy some. We found them with the toothpicks at the grocery store. For $1.99 Maizie has had hours of entertainment with about twenty little paper umbrellas. Everywhere we go she carries a bag of these umbrellas and passes them out as little gifts. Everyone loves them.

Finally, it was time for the I.V. and Maizie was her usual brave self. She watched the whole procedure. We were all a bit confused when the blood never went very far into the tube. The nurse kept washing it out or whatever they call it and seemed to feel confident it was in there good. Joe and I had our doubts. The nurse had to ask us if we had ever tried the ketogenic diet with Maizie. Argh. Uhhhh...what's that? I have only read every book known to man about seizures. Of course I know about it! We have actually been told not to bother using this diet with Maizie. By three different doctors. Including the Cleveland Clinic. That is not to say they don't recommend this diet to others. Due to Maizie's autism her food issues are a major block to using this diet and most think it would have little to no effect. Anyway, it just frustrates me when we always get "advice" like that. I know people mean well but after nine years it does get old.

Once down to the MRI Maizie handed out her cards. Everyone seemed quite pleased with their hearts. The doctor put in the white creamy medicine to send Maizie off to la la land and amazingly enough Maizie stayed wide awake. Four people began poking around on her arm feeling for the vein and for hardness. Apparently, the first dose of medicine was put into an abyss within her arm.
Quickly, the anesthesiologist began an I.V. in her other arm and began administering the medicine again. I have never seen an I.V. put in so fast in my life. It amazes me we arrived over an hour early to have the nurse do the I.V. when the doctor was such a pro at it.

Maizie slowly fell asleep. Any parents out there familiar with MRI's know the sleeping potion puts them to sleep so fast it is quite eerie to witness. It also moves through their system very quickly and they don't stay asleep very long at all. Initially however, the child goes from looking around nervously to a limp doll within seconds. The nurses always warn the parents since most are reduced to tears at the sight of their child going immediately out. I had witnessed this with little Christian last summer when he needed an MRI. He fell asleep so quickly in my arms it scared me. I was shocked. In our case, Maizie never falls asleep easily. She fights it. A lot. They had to pull her out of the MRI four times to readminister the sleeping potion.

I felt guilty having her put to sleep since the nurse kept saying to Maizie, "You are so good! So cooperative! So brave! A model patient!" And then she would say to me, "Are you sure you need to put her to sleep? She is so good." I had to remind myself that I know Maizie and sitting still for 30-45 minutes with a large plastic "cage" like thing wrapped around her head would not go well. Sitting in a tiny tube would really set her off too. When I had a scan before my surgery I remember almost freaking out and I am an adult. So, I figured putting her out was the best option. I got over the guilt when they began strapping her body down to the table. She would have never tolerated that awake.

While we were sitting in the waiting room during the MRI a woman went up to the scheduler and said she had an order for an MRI. She handed over the script and the secretary just stared at it. The lady went on to say she needed her scan done today because she did not want to drive the hour back to her home. She had just came from the doctor's office and wanted to get her scan done today. I could not help but over hear and wanted to say, "Are you kidding me? What do you think this is...Great Clips?" The scheduler explained to her that they had to call her insurance company and go through the approval process which would take about twenty four hours. The woman's response was, "Well, can you direct me to a place where they can manage to make a phone call today?" I could see the schedulers skin crawling. I know mine was. This was my waiting room entertainment.

The MRI went well and I am pretty certain it will come back fine. It is the upcoming EEG that I am really hoping and praying we get some answers from. We need to know if she is having any more seizures than the ones we are seeing. Is she having migraines and what medication would be of the most help? Not to mention one to two seizures per week is too many.

Her heart echo came back great. There was one abnormality but it would be very rare for her to have any problems with it. The cardiologist said that she will need to be looked at again in her late teens. So, for now we are quite pleased with those results. Thank you Ed and Marsha!

Two tests down and the EEG to go! Wahoo! Almost done. The EEG will be three days or longer. I am starting to get things together to keep us all busy during those days. We have begun the many "talks" to prepare for the EEG. I can tell she is nervous.