Any kids ages 8-12 who recently had an MRI ?

[F-Litz]

Thanks Angie!

[peggisue]

Hi, Jeremy was freaked out as well. I tried to get the appt as soon as possible, which helped out. The staff was so kind! Jeremy had a valium as well. It seemed to relax him, but after the MRI, he was bouncing off the walls! So, don't give it to her more than 1/2 hour before the appt. I was able to sit in with him (he had to choose between mom and dad) and I put my hand on his leg and stroked it to let him know that I was there. Plus, he got to bring his own cd that they played over the head phones they provide. It made him feel cool. I emailed you after talking to Jeremy so he could tell Maia what to expect. If she has any questions, just email us back and I can give you our phone number and she could even talk to him if she wants to. (I think my MRI was more scary, I am claustorphobic and took the valium. I laughed the whole time! It was crazy!) That's why I was so puzzled as to how he was so hyper after the MRI was done. Oh well, as long as it works!
Take care, Peggie

p.s. the results we found out with his shoulder MRI are that his ball/socket on the shoulder, the ball isn't quite all the way into the socket. Thankfully, the ball isn't mis-shapen as they thought it might be. That can cause pain, because doing OT/PT stuff can make the ball bang on the area by the socket if it's not in the right place. I felt so bad, because I never in a million years thought that there could be a problem with the ball/socket. I just assumed it was all nerve stuff.

[F-Litz]

Thanks Peggy Sue and everyone else. Maia had her MRI. She had liquid valium which made her nice and relaxed. She napped and the nurse came in to do a pulse-ox and she woke up fully awake. Then she went back to sleep. They let us wait for another hour and when they came to get her she was FULLY AWAKE!! So I had to talk her through getting in the tube which she ended up doing and being fine. I kept my hand on her foot and massaged it lightly to keep on letting her know I was there... she had headphones on with her favorite channel and she did not move at all! I was so proud. But after 20 minutes they stopped the scan because she was breathing too heavily - the scans were coming out fuzzy. They told us that we'd have to come back another time - in October and do General Anesthesia.

This happened when she was 2 - she was asleep but they had to do the scans 2X because she breaths heavily.... I don't know that this is going to change so I have no idea if the scanning will work for her or not. We shall see.

Maia read all the emails and it helped her. We also looked at many MRI videos online and we talked for two days straight about it until she felt more comfortable. Then being back in her "comfort" hospital (where she got therapy for years) made her feel at ease also.

Oh well -we'll just have to try again next month.

[Carrie]

Something that I've done that I haven't seen anyone suggest about getting an mri is to bring metal free clothes like pjs to wear instead of the (ew) hospital gown. I've done it twice and they don't mind as long as you can show there is no metal anywhere. (I wore a sports bra instead of one with clips). This, however, probably won't stop Maia from falling asleep, but I think its definitely helps me relax. Just a thought for next time. Maybe picking out which pjs to wear would help her feel like she has more control too.
Carrie

[F-Litz]

Hi Carrie - great idea... but they let her keep her clothes on. I had her in soft cotton knit shirt and leggings (just like the stuff she sleeps in) so that she would be comfortable..... still the breathing..... she breaths too heavily - it's because of her diaphragm issues ....

thanks