Savannah's MRI

So yesterday we had Savannah's MRI. We were exhausted to say the least. The night before (Thursday) we stayed up late watching the Dem. Natl. Convention on TV (here in Denver:)) and the next morning we had to be at the hospital at 6:00 am.

I was planning on getting up at 4:45 so we could leave at 5:15 but I awoke with a start at 3:55 remembering my tooth fairy duties for Blake! Yikes...we have already forgotten too many times. So I took care of that and decided to just stay up and get moving. We sent Landen off to the neighbors so he could get to school (thanks Brooke!) and pulled Blake and Savannah out of bed. I couldn't feed Savannah at all before the procedure so I made Blake wait also so she wouldn't see any food. He is such a trooper and was very good about it.

When she had an MRI done at 3 months old it took her a long time to be put to sleep because she would never completely relax and fall into the sleep. So I thought it was going to take awhile to put her out and they would start the process right when we arrived. Oh no, we did lots of waiting, paperwork, etc. So poor little kids had been up so early and still couldn't have any food or drink (I did sneak Blake out and gave him something to hold him over). Finally at 8:30 they got Savannah into the room. They wheeled her down the hall in a wheelchair and she thought it was the coolest stroller she had ever seen! :) Jeb took her into the room as they put her to sleep and she screamed for 20 seconds and was out cold. He had to leave her after that and let them take all of the pictures of her brain. We took Blake down to the cafeteria to get him some breakfast and he loved it so much! He kept asking if we could go back there for lunch.

We came back to the waiting room to wait for Savannah and I went in to help her come out of the anesthesia. It was hilarious to watch her come out because she was so disoriented. She sat up at one point and yelled "horseys!" and then fell back to sleep. Anyway, we finally got her out of there and we were so happy the long ordeal was over. We got to take all of the films with us so we can show the Endocrinologist (sp?) on Wednesday. We got home just in time to get Blake off to school. Jeb took him and headed off to work (although it had already felt like a very full day). I was so excited because Savannah was going to take a nap and then I was going to crash for 2 hours before the kids got home from school (I was so exhausted!)

I was reading stories to Savannah in her room on the floor when the phone rang. Now remember, I am 8 months pregnant so once I am on the floor it takes great effort to get up :). I let the machine get it and it was my pediatrician. She said, "Rebecca, call me as soon as you can and even if I am with a patient have them come and get me." My heart just sank. I didn't want to call her. I quickly put Savannah in bed and got up the courage to call. She told me the radiologist that looked at our scan saw a mass (tumor, etc.) near her pineal (sp?) gland area in her brain and we needed to get to Primary Children's to see our neurologist (Dr. Handler who we have seen many times before) right away. This was a whole new thing, totally unrelated to her Dandy-walker cyst that she has had since she was born in the back of her brain. Needless to say I started freaking out, hyperventilating, feeling like I was going to throw myself into labor, you name it. I called Jeb and told him to come and get us, we have to go to the hospital right now(Lisa Marie, I immediately thought of you and all you have gone through recently...it is the most horrible feeling to think there is something wrong with your child).

Jeb got home and we went straight to Primary Children's. We did the MRI that morning at Presby. St. Luke's so we had to bring our scans with us. The whole way I felt dizzy, over tired, sick and emotional. Jeb kept trying to tell me, we don't know anything yet, let's wait until we find out more (trying to be strong). I told him it was too late because I am so pregnant and so tired, there is nothing that will keep the tears back. I kept thinking about brain surgery, not enjoying the baby coming because of stress, etc, etc. I couldn't look back at her happy little face in her carseat without feeling so much pain.

We got to the hospital and our wonderful and very interesting neurologist (who squeezed us into his schedule so we wouldn't have to wait the holiday weekend) comes in. He says "What the hell is going on here?" He looked and looked at her scans and asked if we have a copy of her previous MRI from when she was 3 months old? I told him we had it done in Virginia and that Primary Children's should have them on file because I have brought them in before. He looked it up and had them and was able to compare the two. He said she has always had this in her pineal gland area (sp?) and it is not a mass, it is another cyst. The kind of cyst that a lot of children have that will hopefully go away eventually (the kind of cyst we were hoping Savannah had instead of her Dandy-Walker). He said if you would have done your MRI here we could have found that out much easier because we have all of her records and we have seen a lot of children's brains. He went and got a couple of other opinions and all of the doctors agreed.

I felt color come back into my face and immense relief. Jeb and I were so happy to have better news! What an awful, traumatic experience! My heart went out to so many at Primary Children's who get such horrible news about their precious little ones. The Dr. said he wants us to do another MRI in 3 months to take a look at it again but for now we can rest easy. It is so creepy knowing she has another cyst but apparently it is more common than her Dandy-walker and may just go away. He said her Dandy-walker (near her cerebellum in the back of her brain) looks scary and bigger but it is stable for now. We still have to see the Endocrinologist on Wednesday but I don't think she will have anything life-threatening going on. We can deal with anything else right now as long as we know she is going to be okay.

Jeb and I couldn't believe how much peace we felt after leaving that place. There happened to be a Dairy Queen down the street from the hospital (my favorite pregnancy treat is a chocolate blizzard with M and M's :)) and we made a stop! Thank you for all of your prayers and support. I know I made this story really long with lots of details, but I want to remember it. When she is driving me crazy as a pre-teen I can look back and remember how grateful I am that she is doing so well despite her underdeveloped brain. :) We slept really well last night and feel so much better today. My heart goes out to those who don't get such relief and have so much worry to deal with. Since having Savannah I have definitely gained more empathy for others. Thanks to all of our friends and family.