We're done with the MRI

It was an eventful day. Thank you so much for the prayers and support - we felt them. I was super nervous last night but today was calm. We started off our day bright and early by being at Primary's at 7:30 (we got bumped earlier - so lucky us got to get up early!). We did the whole rig a ma role of checking him into same day surgery, weighing him, measuring him and dressing him again in those cute pajamas. The nurses don't even really go over everything with us anymore - I guess they figure we know the drill - we have done this so many times.

A brief visit with the RN and we are on our way downstairs to medical imaging. The MRI technician came in, explained how things would work. We asked about his sternal wires (we didn't want him to get sucked up into the MRI machine - that would not have been good. A vision of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory just came to mind - hee!hee!) and they said we were good with those. The anesthesiologist then came in and told us what was going to happen. We were scared, he was scared. He told us that if at any point Carter could not handle the procedure they would immediately quit. We hoped he would cooperate and allow us a glimpse at what is happening when he is asleep. Words cannot explain how terrified I was when they were going over what could happen if he had a complete obstruction. But I was brave for my little man and told him he needed to cooperate so we will know how to help him best.


We waited a little longer and played with a fun noisy toy and blew bubbles (Carter loves bubbles). Before we knew it a MRI gurney rolled in and they were ready. We specifically asked them to look for the cyst they had drained during his surgery in September (the one blocking his airway). Alan and I both know something is getting worse - we can tell by the way he sleeps - by the way he eats - he is struggling for breath at times. We think there is a possibility the cyst could be back.

We laid him gently on the gurney while the anesthesiologist administered cherry limeade gas (it did smell very good - but it didn't put me to sleep). He fought the mask - he didn't like it (can you tell?) Not a few minutes later and Carter was asleep. They walked us out to the waiting room where we were told it would take anywhere from 1/2 hour to 45 minutes.

We waited........

and waited........

and waited more.........

at 10:20 I was starting to panic - it had been an hour.

We waited more..........

and more..........

and more.

I was starting to freak out - Alan calmly said if there was a problem we would have heard a Code Blue called.

Breathing.........

breathing........

breathing..........

aaaaahhhh - the tech comes out at 10:50.

He is done..........all is well.

Our little man is still asleep and he looks peaceful. The tech explained that they did have to rubberband a mask to his face to help him sustain himself during the sedation. It was pushed against his face and he would have marks. They also had to tape his jaw up because they were having a hard time keeping his airway open. They inserted nasal trumpets (they seriously look like trumpets) to keep his nasal passages opened. The anesthesiologist said he was hard..........it was scary. What we do know at this point - he is 100% obstructed when he sleeps. We asked if they saw a cyst - the anesthesiologist said he couldn't tell us what they saw. We asked if the doctor would come out - but we were told he needed to go over the results with a colleague just to make sure he saw everything correctly. We were a little disappointed - but the anesthesiologist was so nice - wanted to give us information. As he was leaving, he came right up to us and said, I will just give you a preliminary finding - they will go into much more detail when the results come out - but he guesses with all the problems he had that it is his tongue that is causing the obstruction. It is too big for his airway, too floppy when he sleeps that it is obstructing the airway completely.

I guess I need to read up more on this because the nurse asked me if I was ever scared to take care of him at home. "No, but the way you are asking me that makes me think that I should be scared to take care of him at home." Another question, "Does he wear an oximeter at night?" "Yes" I answer. "That's good," she says.

Carter woke up and immediately removed the remaining nasal trumpet - he saw no reason to have that in his nose. He also tried to pull the oximeter probe off his thumb and then removed his own IV on his foot. You could definitely tell he did not want to be there any longer. We didn't even have to wait for Carter to drink a bottle - they said he could go. We briefly met up with Lacey and Ray (Jaxson's mom and dad) so I could give her back a blanket I had finished. Please continue to pray for that cute Jaxson - that he gets to go home soon! Then we were on our way home.

So now we wait more......for the official results. We have made our appointment with the sleep medicine doctor for the beginning of March. Until then we will try our hardest to keep oxygen on the little man at night - even though he hates it. Again, thank you for your love, support and prayers.