October 19th - 2nd MRI

Kayla, Sadie and I started our Friday morning by leaving for the hospital at about 7:15AM.  We got there and were registering while Sadie was filling her diaper. . .nice timing.  I thought we'd have a chance to stop off at the bathroom, but they sent us right over.  At the MRI waiting room, I had to sign a few more papers and then we waited for a little bit until they took us back to a room.

The nurse weighed Kayla (without me holding her. . . big step) and had her put on the hospital gown (another BIG step. . . she actually put it on for the first time ever).  Then Kayla sat on the bed (another BIG step. . . she doesn't like to be on hospital beds) and was great while the nurse listened to her heart and lungs.  

I finally had a chance to change Sadie. . . the nurse gave me a blanket to put on the floor so I could do it in the room.  Let me just say it was the biggest mess she has made so far in her life. :)  I was glad I brought extra clothes. . . 

I then had more papers to sign and questions to answer.  The nurse anesthetist came in and talked to us for a little while.  Both Kayla and I were familiar with the process and were good to go.  

Kayla did not want to use the mask to get put to sleep, so I requested that they access her port and give her the anesthesia through it.  The nurse was fine with that, although they are not quite as efficient as the nurses at MSTI. ;)  

When it was time to go into the MRI room, Kayla hopped off the bed and held the nurse anesthetists hand while she walked down the hallway and into the room.  Wow.  I don't know if it was because I was holding Sadie or not, but she did so awesome!  I had to stay out of the room, so she went in with about 6 nurses hovering around her and helping her get settled.  And she was still fine.  They gave her the anesthesia and she was out pretty quickly.  It was still difficult not to let a tear or two slip out as I walked back to the room to gather our stuff and go to the waiting room.  

After waiting for about an hour, a nurse came and took me back to Kayla in the recovery room.  She took longer to wake up this time than she has the past few times she's been under anesthesia.  But, once she was awake, she was good.  She drank water, ate a popsicle, watched a little PBS and then the nurse de-accessed her and we headed home.  

I was so glad that Kayla was totally fine with everything that day.  She remembered the drill and did absolutely fantastic.  What an amazing girl we have.  

Just to follow up. . . Kayla's nurse called me on Monday to tell me what the results of the MRI were.  She said that there was another marked decrease in the size of the tumor!  Yay!  She also said that they could see a cold or allergies in her sinuses . . . yep, she's been coughing and sneezing lately.  We will meet with her doctor tomorrow to see what he has to say.  They do the MRI's three months apart, and we were told at the beginning not to expect to see any changes until the first MRI is compared to ones a year or so down the road.  I think that it is great that there has been such a noticeable change in size from the first to the second MRI and again from the second to third one.