United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

We go Fri the 13th for a MRI for Maggie, she hasnt had one since she was 7-8 months old, she is 6 now. They said they are going to do it without sedation.

Is there any recommendations on what to tell her or do for her to get her ready for this. I heard MRIs are loud and I really dont think Maggie is going to be still for it, she hates loud noises.

Wish us luck we also see both surgeons and talk about when they are going to do surgery on her. I cant believe that someone finally wants to help Maggies arm work better. Pray for us, TIA, Leslie

Is it possible for her to get an upright MRI instead of a lying down one? I did this for Maia the last time she got scanned and she actually enjoyed it. She sat up and watched tv while the machine scanned away. I sat in the room and stayed with her the whole time...she didn't talk to me- I didn't want her to move -- but I was able to talk to her.

here's pictures of it
http://www.injurednewborn.com/maia8/mri.html

Wow I did not even know they had upright MRI's!

I have had quite a few MRI's for other reasons (not related to my BPI). I would say try to get one of those upright ones... but if you can't, they have open MRI's now.. which are much nicer than the closed ones becuase you do not feel as cramped in a small area which might be scary for a 6 yr old. Also, many times they will let you listen to music via headphones so that you do not hear the loud popping noises that the machine makes. Open MRI's are also not as loud as the closed ones (in my experience anyway).

I would say also just to talk to her about it ahead of time. Maybe show her some pictures online of the machine and what not so she is prepared. I have heard some people turn it into a game for kids - saying it is a space ship or something interesting so that the kid will not be as scared..so maybe you could do that too.

I will keep you are your family in my prayers that all goes well and her arm can be fixed to work better!

-marie

My brother in law is a respected musculo-skeletal radiologist. I have mentioned upright and open MRI to him many times (Juliana even had two upright MRIs). He feels that they don't give as clear a picture as the closed MRI does. I would stick with whatever the surgeon prefers, unless there is a major issue.

Good luck,
claudia

it's true - the picture is not as clear for soft tissue - but it is very clear for bones

maia tried to do a laying down MRI a few times and she's been sedated but because of her diaphragm issues, when they put her out, she breathes too heavily and they have to do it over and over again.... this last time she was awake when they did the laying down one and still - breathing too heavily so we had to try the upright one and it worked out great.

Hi Leslie,

Wow, your situation sounds EXACTLY like mine. My daughter is also 6 and had her last MRI when she was 6 months. Our plan was to try to not sedate her, but if she couldn't stay still, they would need to. (She has an extremely hard time sitting still.) They ended up sedating her, but she came out just fine. About 3 months later (December 2008) she had her 1st (hopefully only) surgery, and is doing very well. We were SO excited that these doctors were FINALLY willing to help Kaitlyn. Will definitely pray for you all. Please let me know if you have any questions, I don't always check this board, but you can certianly email me at kelley.brimmer@gmail.com. Good Luck!