MRI

On Monday, Caden had an MRI to look at several things: spine, brain and hips. The initial order was for the spine from his ortho doc at Shriner's. He needed more complete imaging in order to determine whether or not Caden will need surgery for his congenital scoliosis. The brain was added on to the order because his neurologist said since we were doing an MRI anyway, he would like to have the data. However he said if Caden wasn't already going to have an MRI, he wouldn't have ordered one just to look at the brain since Caden is doing so well.

The hips are a whole other story! When Caden started the treadmill study, we could see that his left leg turned out quite a bit when he walked. Our PT was monitoring it to see how it would progress. Since it didn't seem to change much, she thought it would be best to have an x-ray done to “rule out” an ortho problem. She really thought it was a weakness of his muscles and not an ortho problem. But in order to be sure and make sure his therapy was appropriate she thought it would be a good idea. Our pediatrician had no problem ordering that for us (because he's great!). But everyone thought the x-ray would show nothing unusual. Well we were all wrong. The x-ray report showed “borderline” hip dysplasia. :( But since this wasn't a definitive yes or no, more imaging was necessary. Since Caden was already scheduled for the MRI, it only made sense to get it added on to the order so he could have it all done at once. After all, they have to sedate him for it so I don't want to have to do more than one!

It took a lot of phone calls back and forth with the nurse at Shriner's and the Imaging department at UC Davis before I got that resolved. In fact it was only at 4:30 pm Friday afternoon that it was taken care of and his MRI was at 10:30 on Monday morning. But I got it done and I was relieved!

On Sunday I was laid up in bed all day long with a stomach bug. I was hoping I would feel better Monday morning. But unfortunately I still was feeling miserable. I took Caden down to UC Davis to get him checked in for the MRI, but Greg came down and met us there and took over. After going over Caden's extensive medical history with the anesthesiologist, I left and went home and slept for several hours.

Thankfully Greg took some pictures for me so I have the experience documented. Overall it went well. The scan time alone was over two hours. They did thorough imaging of all areas. When Caden woke up in recovery, Greg said he got back to his sweet personality very fast and was flirting with all the nurses. I was really happy to hear that because that means that he is becoming more relaxed in a clinical environment. This has NOT always been the case.

We have a follow-up appointment scheduled with the ortho doc at Shriner's on Tuesday morning. So hopefully at that point we will have a full report. I'm hoping that we will know how to proceed with the hips. And, the bigger question is whether or not Caden will need surgery for his scoliosis. I appreciate your continued prayers as we prepare for the appointment.

Ready to go in for the MRI

Waiting with Daddy

A little loopy with versed

Completely out now

It's all over and getting ready to go home!