Hello, 2010 (Part Two)!

Back a few months ago, Miles was referred to have an MRI done on his brain for his eye condition called nystagmus.  It was originally scheduled for November, but in order to have it applied toward next year's $3,000 deductible, rather than at the end of this year's, we opted to change it to early January.

So after arriving home from TN last night, we headed out at 6:30am for Kosair Children's Hospital in Louisville.   Miles wasn't allowed to have anything to eat or drink after midnight (he could have clear liquids until 6am), which worried me that he would scream the entire way there because he was hungry. But he didn't.

We checked in and they got us situated in his outpatient sedation room.  He was so calm.  I'm really proud of him.  Here he is laying in his hospital bed, totally transfixed by "Sid The Science Kid."

     

They told us he didn't have to wear it, but we decided it was too cute not to put it on him.

After his blood pressure was checked (which he barely even noticed because he was so into "Sid"), a few people came in to explain the sedation process.  We had the option of having him drink 2 teaspoons of horrific tasting stuff or a few drops up the nose.  We chose nose, and they said that was probably best for his age.

What happened next was pretty traumatizing to Brandon and I, but surely not traumatizing to Miles!

When they were ready to sedate him, they brought in the nose drops and a big warm blanket.  She had Brandon hold Miles across his legs while she put the nose drops in.  He coughed like it was pretty terrible but tolerated the sticking-things-up-his-nose really well.  Then they wrapped him up in the warm blanket and Brandon had to hold him really tightly in his lap.

The nurse explained that kids will either just drift off to sleep or get kinda agitated.  Miles was the agitated type.  We had to turn the TV off and turn the lights down as Brandon held him and he wrestled so hard.  He was red-faced and crying, we were crying, it was awful.  We just sat there talking quietly to him, and I stroked his hair and cheek.  I gave him his pacifier after a minute or so (I'm not sure if I was supposed to or not, but it helped).  Within five minutes (maybe less), he was completely zonked.  He didn't look like he was in a "different" kind of sleep, just a deep one.

The nurse came around probably at the 10 minute mark to check on him and she heard him snoring as soon as she walked in!  She carried him down to the MRI room in her arms (we wondered how they would take him down - a rolling bed?) and told us we could stay in the room or go walk around, get some breakfast.  We opted to get some breakfast, so we went up to the 1st floor McDonald's and took it back down to the room.  We finished eating, checked Facebook on Brandon's iPhone, and just as I was starting to get antsy ("Okay, it's been long enough, they can bring him back!") she came around the corner with him in her arms, just as zonked as he was before.

She laid him down on the bed and as she did, he started opening his eyes.  I've never seen anyone, much less a little child, come out of sedation, so this was nothing I'd seen before.  He was so out of it.  I never want to see him like that again (So Miles, when you're thinking about whether or not to try alcohol when you are much much older, just remember that Mommy never wants to see you looking drunk like that ever again!).  She checked his BP again and had me hold him while he drank some apple juice from a bottle.

It was like holding a giant newborn.

The nurse gave us his discharge instructions and sent us on our way with our sleepy little guy.  She said he would probably be drunk and groggy for another few hours and may or may not be hungry or thirsty. He finished the juice before we left the parking garage and I thought we might need to stop to get him something else to drink on the way home, but he was asleep before we got back on I-64.  He slept the whole way home.

When we got home, he tried to walk and staggered into his Elmo's Restaurant, nearly knocking it over.  Brandon left to go to the office and I tried to put him down in his crib, but he wasn't taking the bait and I wasn't about to make him cry it out.  So he and I took a long nap in our bed.  When he woke up around 2pm, he seemed completely back to normal.  He ate a little oatmeal and bread and has been playing since then.

We will be waiting around to hear the results of the MRI.  When we asked, we were told that 24-48 hours after the procedure is when you usually hear, so I'll be glued to my phone until then.  Hopefully they will tell me the results over the phone and not have me make an appointment.  That would drive me insane with worry.  More than likely, the results will be normal and we will see the ophthalmologist around July to see how it has progressed and if it is affecting his vision.  The problem hasn't gone away and some days I think it is much worse.  But it still could start getting better and go away on its own.

That's the news of the day and I've written enough.  Miles has started destroying a piece of wrapping tissue, so now I get to clean up microscopic bits of paper from the floor!