suebaby

The incredibly true adventures of the second MRI

Well, our son did great! He was so good in the waiting room! He also did really well after it was all over. I, however, did not fare so well. Here's the basics:

We got to the hospital around 7:15 or so and checked in. We went to Radiology and waited. Somewhere around 8:00, I realized that I was really cold and achy. I turned to Keith and said I didn't feel good. He said something about how it was probably because I didn't eat breakfast. (I tend to have problems with low blood sugar... if I go too long with no sugar, I start to get weak and shaky, but as long as I eat some candy or drink a soda or something, I'm always fine). I assumed Keith was right, but I had no intention of leaving the waiting room to get a coke or something when I knew we were going to be called any minute.

Well, Jack continued to be fine and I continued to get way, way worse. Slowly, I realized that the tips of my fingers were numb and I was getting nauseous and I was really shaky and shivering. I could not get warm. The nurses by then had been told by Keith that I wasn't feeling good and had brought me blankets, but it didn't help at all. I was encouraged by Keith and the nurses to go to the cafeteria and get some food, and finally I agreed to go. I figured I would be a better support system for Jack if I was feeling better.

I went to the cafeteria and was really starting to feel crappy. Kind of faint and cold and really nauseous. I was also shaking like a leaf. I couldn't control it. I got in line with my bagel and drinks and tried to pay, only to be told that they don't take debit cards and that I had to go to the atm outside of the cafeteria. I went and got some cash and returned and was feeling even worse. I paid and wondered if I should sit down and eat in the cafeteria because at this point I was feeling like death, and based on the way people were looking at me, I must have looked like it, too. Suddenly I realized I was going to be getting sick very soon and hightailed it out of there. Luckily I knew where a bathroom was. Too bad I hadn't eaten breakfast. As we all know, dry heaves suck and so does barfing up stomach acid.

As soon as I could get myself together, I hauled ass back to Radiology and walked in as they called Jack's name. Keith looked at me as I walked in and I could tell I looked bad. Somehow, we got to the anesthesia room where they did the whole run down about what they were going to do to Jack. Keith signed all the papers and I basically sat in a chair and cried. I was shaking pretty violently and everyone looked way more worried about me, which caused me to have immense guilt. Hello, Jack is the priority here! The anesthesiologist could tell I was in bad shape (at this point, my toes were numb and I was getting scared... the good thing was, at least I was already in a hospital). The Dr. took my pulse, blood pressure, etc, and said my vitals were all ok and I probably just had a virus. Somewhere in there, they took Jack away and I didn't get to hold him or tell him goodbye or anything. As you can probably imagine, more tears.

Then we returned to the waiting room, where at this point, it was packed. There was probably about thirty people in there. Keith put me in a chair and watched over me as we waited. And waited. And waited. It was taking a really long time. At some point, I tried to eat the bagel I'd bought and instead, had to run to the bathroom and puke my guts out again. Anyway, they finally called us back and told us that it took so long because in the middle of the MRI, Jack woke up and proceeded to pull out his IV! They had to stop, readminister his medication, wait for him to fall asleep, and start over again. Jack is such a little stinker. There's a part of me that just loves that he did that. That boy doesn't take any crap.

We walked in and he was out cold on the little bed. They told us it would be a while before he woke up because they'd had to give him so much medicine to knock him out. This was not good news because A. I wanted him to be awake so I would know he's ok and B. I wanted him awake because I wanted to get home because I still felt like I was dying. We sat there with him for about five minutes and a nurse walked by, talking loudly, and he woke up. And I mean, he woke up wide awake, with no grogginess. It was almost kind of creepy. He proceeded to drink his little bottle of pedialyte and appeared to be totally fine. The nurse was so surprised that she said she'd go ahead and discharge him early. Score!

We got out of there and headed home, where Jack proceeded to have a very normal day and I got in bed and slowly got better. Jack is doing great and I'm pretty much fine now. I guess it was a virus, probably one of those 24 hour things. It was so weird though and horrible timing. I got the sense that I was being looked at by the other parents as this crazy mom who has to compete with her child for attention, like, "I'm going to be even sicker than my baby". Although, when you're in the middle of puking hell and your son is having a major medical procedure, you don't care much what anyone else thinks. Also, since my mystery disease cleared up pretty much upon leaving the hospital, there's a chance that I created it myself... you know, like either I made myself sick subconciously to distract myself from the anxiety of Jack's procedure, or maybe I got sick because I was so worried/ stressed. I don't know what it was, but I'm very glad that it's gone... it was awful.

Anyway, today we had a great day and are looking forward to tomorrow when the grandparents come to babysit and Keith and I get to see a movie. We don't get to the movies too much these days, so this is very exciting! Yes!

Hope you are all doing well...

posted by suebaby @ 6:55 PM