MRI results

Wednesday afternoon we brought Whitney to the hospital for the MRI. We were placed in our own room and were told they were going to do a oral sedation. We were immediately thankful that she would not need an IV. The nurse let me give Whitney the syringe of sleeping fluid. I was thankful for this because for some reason, as the mom, I think I can do it better than the nurse. (: Then we turned the lights off and she was sopossed to just fall asleep within 15 minutes or so. She eventually fell asleep, woke up and fell asleep again. Matt and I went off to get a little food with pager in hand. She was supposed to sleep an additional 2 hours after the MRI to sleep off the affects of the medication. However, when we arrived back in our room Whitney was already awake. She proceeded to be fussy until bedtime. I am so glad that this behavior is unusual for her.

Thursday we went to the doctors office for the results. Her Chiari II is obviously present. It looks as though her spinal cord doubles over itself near the base of her neck. Very interesting to see. Since we have not experienced any symptoms or problems we do not treat it. Symptoms would include difficulty breathing or swallowing. There are a few other abnormalities in her brain but all of it is common for spina bifida patients. This was great to hear. I learned that all of spina bifida patients have a tethered spine but once again if there are no symptoms then we do not treat it. Issues may occur during large growth spurts. Such as when she is 3-4 and 11-12 years of age. So, we will worry about that later. Her shunt looks like it is operating wonderfully.

Thank you all for praying for Whitney. We are so thankful that the results were all positive. The next thing up ahead is February 2 when we see via x ray how her hip is doing.