MRI

Hannah had her MRI done at Primary Children's on April 23rd. The appointment was at 6:30am. So that Sunday, I took the kids down to SLC with me so Grandma Cherie could watch them during the appointment. Rachel generally wakes up at 8:00am and is pretty happy for a while before I feed her, so I got to leave Rachel at Gramma's too.

Hannah had to go at least 4 hours fasting which was why we had such an early appointment. She was really happy in the waiting room.

 Then they took us back to explain everything. I read books to Hannah to entertain her. Then came the IV! I sat on the chair with Hannah facing me on my lap. I had my arms over hers to help keep her sit. It didn't work. She freaked and wiggled too much. The two nurses tried the other side and still no go.  Then the brought in warming pads for her feet and left us for a while.  Hannah just wanted me to see to her. She loves books but at that time didn't want any. I found it special and touching to sing comfort to her. It reminded me of my dad singing and when I felt scared and going through a rough time at school, how much I appreciated getting a CD of my dad singing.

Finally, the IV specialist came to help. We tried once again to get an IV in her while she sat on my lap but that wasn't successful either.  The big problem is that Hannah's veins are really deep and hard to find. Then once the finally find a vein if she moves and thrashes around while they stick her, the blood stops flowing and the site is no good any more. So for her fourth poke, she was laying on the bed while I was laying over her legs and holding one arm. One of the technicians held her arm they were going to poke still, while the other stuck her. That time it worked!!!

After a bag of fluid, we went to the scanner bed were they added the anesthetics to knock her out. After about 5 minutes we thought she was asleep so the nurse put in her ear plugs, Hannah freaked out and kept screaming. It took a little bit to calm her back down. She eventually got hooked up to all the monitors and got sent through the machine for 45 minutes. I ate breakfast during that time.

 She was hard to wake up after the testing.  She drank her juice in the sleep. The nurse tried to give her a Popsicle which Hannah would react to and just kept turning her head side to side to get away from it. I played with her and she even laughed at me but just wouldn't open her eyes and act awake.

So after giving her Keppra, we got a little wagon to take her to the car. She was in and out in the wagon but still it didn't do the trick. At Grandma's she just laid asleep on the couch while I fed Rachel and packed the other kids up. Putting Hannah back in the car woke her up enough to give her Depakote with applesauce (it's a pull apart pill). I just feel more comfortable when she has her medicine. The ride back was so easy. Hailey and Robert entertain themselves well and Hannah and Rachel slept the whole time.  Then like a switch, when we arrived home, Hannah just woke up and was completely fine. Somethings to be worried about is an upset stomach and a loss of balance for the first little bit but Hannah acted completely normal.

The result of the test is that her brain is completely normal but showed that she was a bit congested. Having a normal test is great news because it leads to further evidence that she'll out grow her seizure but at the same time, I wish we could actively do something to help her then just waiting. Oh well, it was a good testing experience and she is very cute asleep.