Nothing is Ever Simple

Most people get MRI's and it is not complicated. But for Miss Becca everything is complicated.

I took her to the physician for her monthly check in the the clinic appointment. She was due for her 6 month follow-up MRI to look at the tiny spot they found on her brain. Her MRI at l7 did not show anything, but an MRI done to find out why she was getting dizzier revealed a little blip. The neurologist thought it was just an artifact on the film or something.

The MRI a few months later to look at her cervical vertebrae showed it too as it is low in the back of her head. Recommendations, 6 month MRI to watch to see if it changes etc.  Basically wait and see.

Knowing too much about Noonan Syndrome and too much about medicine is not a good thing sometimes. I know that because of Becca's PTPN11 Noonan Syndrome gene she is at risk for developing cancer. She had JMML cancer (kind of like a leukemia) as a baby. But in NS they sometimes spontaneously get better.

So I cannot worry, sometimes I can forget, well maybe push it out of my mind, but not yesterday.

I told the provider at her appointment that the last time she had an MRI that she was premedicated due to she reacted to CT contrast. She argued with me that CT contrast and MRI contrast are different and there was no need for premedication to cut the reaction. Dr. Sheirlie is out on maternity leave and so I have to trust that the provider.  I told her to go look in the chart to see what they did last time. Phone call with the date, no premedication necessary. Dr. Sheirlie had come up with a plan that maybe we can treat the migraine that will ensue from the noisy buzzing MRI machine and Becca's autism hyperaucusis (hypersensitive hearing). Normally she will end up in the clinic or ER to get a shot to treat the severe migraine headache. Why not treat it before it will get bad?
Great plan.

I took Becca to the clinic dressed in her scrubs to avoid the dreaded hospital gown trigger for her shot of Torodol and gave her the Zofran for the nausea/headache and got her Valium on board and handed her off to her Doctor Dad who just happened to have a light afternoon clinic. Thank you God for simplifying my day.

For the first time, I had to trust her Dad for a complex procedure. I wasn't there. I ran home to meet the dishwasher repair guy relieving Detamara of the responsibility of letting him in. Little Guy's new teacher was coming to see him and learn more about him for his transition to the Early Childhood School program next month.

Her MRI was scheduled for 2:30 and a few minutes before three, I had an ugly stomach turning moment of feeling upset to my core. I brushed it off for jitters or a mini panic attack and picked up little guys toys before the arrival of the teacher. The repair guy arrived, the teacher, and soon Becca and the Doc walked in.  The stomach/jitter event,
triggered by something happened at the end of Becca's MRI. She reacted, off to the ER with Doctor Dad, bypassing the front desk back to the ER and off to see the provider who remembered her CT contrast event and soon a shot of Benedryl relaxed her tightening bronchial spasms.  Wait a few minutes and home to recover.

Becca slept the rest of the day and I checked on her often to make sure that with all the meds on she was still breathing.  Enough said there, as I write the tears fall.  Sometimes I do not like my job as Becca's mom, it is so hard to watch her go through all this. Seeing her hurt, living with so many unknowns, it is not easy. Somedays it just plain sucks.

But today it is over, we wait for the results. But I do have a little comfort because of perks of Doc being there, he got to look at the CT and talk to the Radiologic Tech who saw the spot and it is tiny, but he didn't have the last MRI to compare it to. So a tiny blip remains, tiny is the operative word.

So today it will be a day of aftermath..... Pictures tell it all.