The MRI went well. The entire staff was so great with Everett. The radiologist gave him an Elmo doll and told him how excited that he was there. The nurse in the recovery room gave him a little blue dog and kept trying to reassure Everett that,"I am all done. Your mommy can have you now." Everyone gushed over him. In all respects, he would have been so spoiled if we stayed any longer I am glad it only took the morning.
There is something about Children's hospitals that puts the staff in the frame of mind to be kind at every point. They giggled about the moose that Everett has on his shoes . . . giggled, people.
The anesthesiologist and the radiologist walked me through each step of the process. They used gas to initially knock him out (--no oral stuff--YYIIPPEE--no throw-up!). It was a rough 2 minutes until he fell asleep. . . and more than once one of the staff said, "He is a strong boy," as it took me and 3 other people to restrain him and keep him safe while he struggled with the mask. I held him while he was wrapped like a burrito trying to sing his favorite song to him while the others kept the mask on and tried to keep the kicking from injuring all of us.
The scanning took about 40 minutes, and he woke up screaming. You could hear him from the radiology room all the way to the waiting room. Recovery was very, very quick. As soon as I could hold my red-cheeked little boy, and we got those cursedly painful sensor sticker circles off his chest, he was ready to pout and point out everything demanding words.
They didn't need to use an IV! They only used gas . . . which means that he won't be a mean drunk for the rest of the day.
Of course you have to fast before an MRI. I had to wait to give him food even though he was finished with the MRI (something about the anesthesia and throwing up). So, I left the hospital hoping to get home quickly only to hit DC rush hour. I felt so bad for Everett; he just wanted to be held and to eat. He kept point to his mouth, "Maa".
After trying to explain why I couldn't hold him (we were in a car driving) and why it was taking so long (this traffic drives me nuts), he amazingly settled down to wait. And then I was witness to the road rage of traffic jams. It is amazing how children are quite often more patient and weathering than adults.
I am glad that it is over. And, no throw-up!
