I realized I never followed up on the post that Caden needed an MRI because of the double vision he'd been experiencing. Thanksgiving week, Shann and I took Caden to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Before the test, he enjoyed himself greatly. They had many cool toys in each new room we went to. They had a 'life therapist' use a doll to show Caden what they would do to him, then gave him a shot of stuff that was supposed to relax him and make him a bit loopy. This did nothing that we could see.
Then we moved to a patient room, changed him into little hospital pajamas, and the nurse started administering more drugs. (They put kids to sleep for an MRI as they can't be still for an hour). Apparently, the boy doesn't go down easily. They gave him 4 different medicines in increasing doses to get him 'under'. The in between moments while he was half conscious were both sort of funny and scary. He was mumbling crazy things, pointing at nothing...would've been funny had he not been mine. Finally they upped a dose and he was out. They had him hooked up to monitor blood oxygen levels and heart rate, and had to administer oxygen at one point. Weird to see the blips on the screen that mean someone is alive. Seems so very fragile. When they wheeled him out of the room, I lost it. Though he looked to be sleeping, my boy with a drug-induced coma made me need to cry a bit. The MRI took about an hour, and soon they wheeled him back into the room.
After some initial crying out in his sleep, he stayed asleep for over an hour before he showed any signs of coming out of it. Once he seemed to be waking, the nurse unhooked him, and Shann picked him up. He was like a 45 pound infant. He couldn't support his head, he was drooling, and crying. We were there for probably another hour trying to get him to drink and wake up a bit.
We finally left, after having been told he wouldn't be fully awake until the next day. He threw a couple times that night, a bit more awake, but not really himself. The next day, he was pretty much back to normal after eating.
We'd been told by the doctor that we'd get some news within the hour of the test, but even after leaving a couple messages, it was 4 days later before we got THE CALL. Doesn't seem long, but it sure was. Caden's test came back normal, praise God! Now I feel kind of bad we put him through that, but obviously we're quite glad they didn't find anything wrong. So I guess we're thinking his double vision had something to do with a virus.
Hopefully this is the end of the story. If not, God is still in control...but I'd really like God to decide my test of faith is over. :)
Below, are a few pics from our gift opening.... alyssa with a colorable puzzle.
Of course, we had to get 2 of these...not sure who was more excited.
We bought a couple goats through World Vision, and these tiny counterparts will remind us to pray for the families who recieved them.
racetrack...
He really wanted Alyssa to come out with him, and she couldn't for various reasons. When I told him this, he said, "I'm downhearted". I'm not sure where he came up with that, but below is his 'downhearted' look.
Then he sat miserably on the step for awhile, occasionally throwing me this pathetic glance over his shoulder.
Lest I leave you feeling sorry for him, here is a minute later after I made a blowfish on the window.
Though he tends toward the dramatic, I'm hoping one day, he'll be very good at talking about feelings with his wife. But I do hope he loses the sagging shoulders and the pitious face. Can't you just picture it? "Alice, I'm downhearted."
creche 90% of the time
Hmm...perhaps I should just put it away!
