Abigail's 1st Amarillo MRI

We did our first MRI in Amarillo on Wednesday, February 20th. It did not go well.

There are two hospitals here and the oncologist had us go to Northwest. They were HORRIBLE with kids. We were off to a bad start anyway since the MRI wasn't until after lunch. They only have one pediatric doctor on hand and he was doing rounds in the morning and couldn't supervise her sedation until after lunch. So poor girl had to fast all morning. Then, they insisted on drawing labs to "check her kidneys" before they would let her do an MRI with contrast - something we NEVER had to do in Lubbock.

Either they don't have a pediatric ICU, or it's small enough that they were just going to sedate her in the MRI room, AFTER they took her away from me. I put my foot down on that one. So they brought me these paper scubs that I was going to have to wear after stripping completely down. Luckily, the pediatric doctor agreed to give her just a bit of sedation in the MRI holding room so she would start to doze off before they took her back and gave her the rest. 

Passing the time waiting for the iv.

Getting the iv was not fun :(

Just put her to sleep already!

Let's just say it was hard to put much faith in the healthcare professionals at this hospital. They were back with her in 25 minutes. In Lubbock, the shortest we ever had was 45, usually longer. They didn't give her any time to come out of the sedation, literally sending us on our way within a few mins, as soon as she could swallow. She couldn't even walk yet, so I had to carry her way out to the car at the back of the parking lot. They had given her something before the sedation to try to relax her, but unfortunately, it didn't kick in before administering the iv. You could sure tell after she woke up though! She was acting so intoxicated and it was really funny. 

The only bonus in all of this was that they gave her a coupon for a free happy meal, something she'd never had before, and she gripped that coupon like it was a lifeline throughout the ordeal. She was so excited to stop and get it on the way home - and since she was extra good, I thew in a McFlurry as well! (She calls them 'Flurry Hearts' and is excited for another one after her next MRI - which is only three days away from the time I'm writing this post.)

When we got home, I set her on this chair so I could spread a blanket on the living room floor and she could eat there. I still didn't trust her to sit up on her own, and I was right! I left her on the chair for just a minute and before I knew it, she fell straight forward, didn't even lift her hands to catch herself, and smacked face first into the floor. She woozily sat up laughing, saying, "I'm ok!"

For the next couple of hours I had to keep a close watch on Abigail as she gradually returned to normal. It was so amusing! 

Eating her Flurry!

I told Andrew that no matter what, we were not doing that again. We'll try the other hospital, or go back to Lubbock, but we will not take her to that hospital ever again. 

The good news is, the results came back a week or two later and the tumor is stable! No growth since the November scan!