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Tuesday, May 6, 2014

An MRI...Or Not An MRI? That is the Question!

After the unsuccessful attempt at a sleep study in early January, we were rescheduled for another one.  This one would be just a couple of weeks later in the hope that Miracle Man would be more accepting and tolerant of being all hooked up.  I preferred rescheduling sooner, rather than later, thinking that if the first attempt was recent enough to the second one, perhaps he would remember, "Hey!  I did this before!"  Then maybe, just  maybe , we would make it through the second one?

In the meantime, Miracle Man had had an MRI scheduled for the end of January and that had been scheduled for several weeks already.  Now, in my world, the age-old cliché "when it rains, it pours," seems to be the standard for how our schedule goes.  Well, low and behold, the new sleep study was scheduled for the day after Miracle Man's upcoming MRI.  Of course.

No big deal, though.  I just go with the motions.  Keep on keepin' on!  So the MRI was our next BIG adventure.  When an adult has an MRI, it can be challenging for them, depending on their ability to deal with the close proximity of the walls to their body and their threshold for managing the strange noises that come from the machine.  But I will tell you, it is definitely much easier  for most adults to have an MRI than a 2 year old.

Now, don't get me wrong...I have had a couple of MRIs, myself, and I tend to be one of those    claustrophobes    that panics before...and during the test.  I was lucky to have one of my closest friends drive me to my last one, though.  And this was especially helpful to me because it meant that my doc could prescribe something for me to help me relax enough to complete the test.  So, as an adult who has a difficult time sliding into the DREADED TUBE, I completely understand how difficult it would be for a small child.  Naturally, then, when the pediatric neurologist informed me that my son would need to be sedated for the test, I was completely on board. 

The plan was to use an anesthesia that would require him not to eat or drink past a specific time.  I knew that would be difficult for Miracle Man, and so I carefully planned out every detail of his meal the evening before, as well as his sleeping and waking times so that I could make sure we followed the rules.  We needed to make it to the hospital for an 8:30 am check-in, and it was my job to make sure he didn't have ANYTHING to eat or drink! 

We were completely on schedule that morning and I had done everything I needed to do with him to make sure we were following the necessary requirements.  All rules followed to a "T"!  The only thing I had left to do was to warm up the car so that my little guy wouldn't freeze his tushy off on the way to the hospital.  I carried Miracle Man into the living room, all bundled and ready to walk out the door, and rushed out to the car.  I was out there for less than a minute!  ONE  itsy bitsy minute!

A little digression here...One thing you should know about Miracle Man is that he perseverates on things.  If I haven't said it before, it is one of his "quirks".  He will find some specific activity that he enjoys and he will repeat it incessantly.  There is literally NOTHING I can do to stop him from doing whatever that activity is--believe me, I have tried EVERYTHING !

So, in every single room in our house, there is one particular thing he does over, and over, and over again,     every.single.time     he is in that room.  There is some type of connection for him in each room.  I cannot explain it.  I don't fully understand why.  All I know is that he obsesses over these particular things.  For example, in our living room, he is obsessed with turning the XBOX on and off, on and off, on and off.  Every time he enters the living room...even to this day, he turns the XBOX on and off.  All day long.  (Unfortunately, our TV stand does not have a place to hide the XBOX from him.)  In the kitchen, when Miracle Man is at the kitchen table, he throws his food on the ground.  Every meal.  Every  day .  Ever since he has been eating table food.  No matter what course of action I take.  It never changes.  EVER

Miracle Man's perseveration even happens outside of our home, too.  When we visit different people's homes, for example, he immediately gravitates to that one thing in each room of their home that he is obsessed with.  When we visit one of my closest friend's, he walks in the door and walks right over to their TV and turns it on and off, on and off...you get the picture.  Yes, Miracle Man loooooooves electronics!  Anything that makes noise and lights up...instant gratification at its best!

Okay, so you get the perseveration, right?  What does that have to do with the MRI, you ask?  Well...do you remember when I said that I went outside to warm up the car for less  than  one  minute ?  And do you remember the very STRICT rules of NO FOOD and NO DRINK...that I carefully followed to a "T"?  I am sure at this point you have guessed what happened...you just need the details to complete the picture in your mind...so here they are:

I walked back into the house to get Miracle Man and head to our long-awaited MRI...only to find my obsessive-compulsive little toddler shoving a fistful  of cat food in his mouth.  Uuuuuuuugh!!!  Are you kidding me?!?!?!  What the heck do I do now????  I only had to MOVE MOUNTAINS again  for this appointment to work out as scheduled! That's all. No big deal (insert heavy sarcasm here).

So, cat/dog food is just one of those things that Miracle Man perseverates on.  Any time he is near cat food, dog food, or the water dishes, he simply must eat the food and play in the water.  He cannot  stop himself.  And I have tried like only a      bazillion-and-one     times to change that behavior.  But it just is part of who he is.  For now, at least. 

Unsure what to do next, and not knowing if and how much he may have ingested, I was in a pickle.  It was too late to call and cancel the appointment.  And...there was always... what if they would  take him into the MRI?  I packed him into the car and headed to the hospital. 

We arrived at the hospital on-time and checked-in.  He was all registered and waiting when the nurse came over to me to discuss the details of the steps we would be taking during the MRI.  At this point, I informed her about the morning's CAT FOOD EVENT.  And, naturally , they wouldn't take Miracle Man in for the MRI once they heard that he had "eaten".  Miracle Man's MRI was immediately rescheduled and we were sent home.  Now, if you're keeping score, that would be 2 failed tests in a row...in a matter of about 2 weeks.  And 2 major  juggling acts of children and schedules...that were somewhat fruitless efforts in terms of getting the answers that we need about our son.  Bummer!

It was definitely frustrating...but it also ended up being a really good thing...because I had some ultra  important  personal business to take care of...that I wouldn't have been able to do, had we had the MRI after all.  Instead of dwelling on the fact that we didn't accomplish the MRI, I left the hospital that morning thinking about how funny life is...how some seemingly  difficult circumstances can actually turn out to be for the best.  To this day, I thank God that Miracle Man ate that handful of cat food.  Having the time to take care of what I needed to that day ended up making a huge difference in my life!

Of course...we still needed our MRI...and the second sleep study...but that would come the very.next.day.  And that, ladies and gentlemen, will be the subject of my next post!

Oh, and by the way, the first thing I did that week when I had a moment to go to the store was to buy another baby gate and install it on the entryway to the laundry room.  Cat food, dog food, and water dishes are now permanently in the laundry room...Problem solved!  (Except when I forget to latch the gate and the little devil sneaks in there before I notice!)  I may not be able to change him, but I can definitely change what he is allowed access to!


Wishing you sunshine and rainbows,

Marathon Momma