Tyson's MRI

Friday was Tyson's MRI day and turned out to be a better then anticipated. The morning started out with me filling his tummy with nice hot oatmeal, knowing he could not eat again until after his test was over, then getting him ready for preschool. I did feel guilty for sending him to school knowing that they would be having snack time and Tyson would not be allowed to eat, but he really wanted to go and understood that he could not eat. After school I picked him up and then we went to the High school to get his daddy. As soon as Tyson realized we were heading to Bangor, he got a little more stressed and started to give us a hard time about going. He cried for a bit and then finally fell asleep. Once we got down there I had a few errands to run, one being renewing my license at the DMV but they were closed. The mall that the DMV is in had a pet store so we took Tyson in there for a while to distract him. After the pet store we ran to iParty to get the last of his birthday decorations then headed to the hospital. Once there Tyson decided that it would be necessary to bring along his two elephants, I am so glad I grabbed them in the morning even though he said he didn't need them. Anyway, after that we headed upstairs to the Pediatric Sedation wing where we were greeted by the best nurse every, nurse Amy. She brought us into what would be his room for the next few hours, the forest room. She gave us a few minuets to look around and get comfortable with everything before coming back to starting getting him ready for everything.



She started out by putting numbing cream on Tyson's hands and arms to numb the areas she wanted for the IV. No he didn't have 4 IV's but this gave her 4 places to choose from. After that it was time for weight, height, blood pressure and a few questions. Tyson wanted to know just how everything worked and was very serious during this entire process.





After all of the official check in stuff was over, Tyson got to go in the playroom to relax and get some much needed energy out. While in the playroom, Nurse Amy, brought Tyson his very own menu to order what ever he wanted. He was very happy to know that when he woke up from his test, there would be food waiting for him. It was already pushing 3:00 and he had not eaten since 9am. After he finally decided on Macaroni and cheese, a hot dog, french fries and green jello, he brought his menu back to nurse Amy and decided he was comfortable enough to start talking about what the IV would be like. Nurse Amy was wonderful answering all of his questions and even brought in his very own "straw" is they called it, for him to play with and get comfortable with. He was excited to know he could keep it, he can not wait to bring it to school for Show-n-tell.



After about 45 minuets of waiting for the numbing cream to really be affective, it was time for things to start rolling. We went back into his forest room and things started to move a little more quickly. The doctor who had already come into the playroom to meet with us, along with two other nurses, came into the room to help put in his IV. One to help place the IV and one to help distract him. Dr. Amy would be the one who would give him the medication to sedate him and stay with him until it was time for him to go home. Jeff and I had already decided before hand that Tyson would sit in my lap while they put in his IV, but what I didn't know was they were going to sit me right up on the bed with him and stay that way until after he was sedated and off to his MRI. Putting in the actual IV did not go nearly as bad as I had been thinking. I am trying to get the video uploaded but I am having trouble.

After the IV was all done, they gave Tyson a searing wheel toy to "drive" the gurney downstairs to the MRI. Here is Tyson driving us into the elevator to go down to where the MRI was.

After we got down the the MRI floor they got Tyson ready for the sedation. Dr. Amy asked him if he wanted to help give himself the medicine, but he didn't want to. He was determined not to go to sleep and told everyone he was going to be able to get to count to 14, but was only able to count to 2.

Just getting out of the MRI
Back upstairs in his room, trying to wake up enough to eat.

It was a little difficult to see him go all limp and then have to hand him off, but I was so grateful it was just for a simple MRI. I can not even imagine how difficult it must be for a parent to have to hand their child over for surgery. After they took Tyson to the MRI, nurse Amy brought Jeff and I to a nearby waiting room. His test took about 45 minuets and after what seemed like forever, nurse Amy came to get us. When we got there Tyson's IV was already out and he was starting to wake up. They brought us back up to his room where his food was already waiting for him. Poor little guy was so hungry he ate almost everything there. I have to admit it was really funny watching him try to eat jello while trying to really wake up. Poor kiddo had jello everywhere but in his mouth. They made us stay there another 30 minuets to allow him to fully wake up and with one last check of his vitals, we were finally able to go home. Our total visit lasted almost 4 hours, but I would not have changed anything about that day. Now comes the waiting for the results and as soon as I know something I will post it.