Porter's MRI

On Wednesday, February 18, 2009, I took Porter to Children's Hospital in Little Rock AR for a MRI of the brain. Porter has been falling down frequently and not catching himself. So whatever hits first catches all the fall. The Neurologist we were referred to, wanted to rule out a brain bleed in the back of the brain. Brain bleeds are common with preemie babies.

We left Fayetteville at 6 in the morning and got into a parking place (after much searching) at 9:30. Our appt was at 10. We didn't have to wait long until we were whisked down to the basement. To our surprise, no cell phone reception. I kept wondering what the walls and ceiling must be made of with all the MRI scanners and CT scanners down there. Anyway, we went through all of the stuff you have to go through and sign before anesthesia.

Porter doesn't do well under general anesthesia so I was pretty worried. His pulsox stays way too low and he is combative. Last time, he kicked the Dr in the face.

His MRI was scheduled for noon, however they were pretty backed up. The poor 4 year old boy hadn't eaten or drank anything since the night before so he was begging for food.

At 1:30 the anesthesiologist came and got Porter and me. We walked down the hall to a little curtain and bed. Porter was having no part of the bed. The nice anesthesiologist was so kind and just got behind him, basically sat on the floor. He put the cherry flavored mask over Porter's little face (while he was standing) and the other anesthesiologist was in front of him. They turned the laughing gas on first and Porter became quite giggly and loose! :) Then they added the "real" stuff and his eyes got heavy, rolled a few times and he was jell-o. The anesthesiologist caught him and as they were lifting him, Porter began laughing. The anesthesiologist said, "do you feel like you're floating, buddy?" All Porter could do was laugh.

I got to be there while they put him under. I kissed him on the forehead and went back to the waiting room. The MRI didn't take long. I rushed back down the elevator and heard him screaming from the door. He wanted the IV out! To my surprise, his pulsox was 95. They had oxygen which helped, but he has NEVER come our of anesthesia that well! How surprised I was, and happy.

I was there about 10 minutes and we got to go home. The nurse told me that she had never witnessed a child being put under standing up!!! They are so accommodating at Children's!!

All Porter wanted was cheese pizza. First of all, the nurse told us clear liquids and second, he is lactose intolerant. Of course I gave in and we went to my favorite place in LR at the River Market- Gusano's. Porter ate cheesy bread to his heart's content.

We made it home late Wednesday night and I was pooped!

We got the results of the MRI today (the next day) I couldn't believe it! He has a normal brain. No bleeds. Praise be to God!

Ice Storm 2009

The ice storm of 2009 did a ton of damage to the NWA area!

We were without power from Jan 27-Feb 5. The longest week of my entire life.

Rob and Patton were in Haiti and missed most of the terrible part of the ice storm. I will blog about that later.

I just can't believe all that happened. At one point, we were running low, almost out, of firewood. I worked and worked on getting the ice off my car, something like 2 1/2 hours. Finally got into the car and couldn't get it out of the driveway due to the downed trees. I backed the car up into the front yard and got it stuck and there it stayed until the big boys got home!! :(

Parker, Porter and I stood in front of the stove with all 4 burners going full blast to keep warm.

My parents finally rescued us and we got to stay at my brother's warm house for 2 days.

Rob and Patton came home from 90 degree ocean weather and were ready to "camp". I just couldn't do it, not one more day. Rob finally talked me into it and we made it with the help of a part time generator. The generator had some problems and wouldn't work properly so we ended up staying with my parents for 2 more days.

Power was finally restored and it was so nice to be back in our own bed in our own warm house!

Completely out of my comfort zone!

Thanks to my good friend, Renae Burt, I am trying something new. Something out of my comfort zone! That's why I think I don't like "myspace" cause I just don't get it! It took me a whopping 4 hours to figure out how to change my background (and get it right)! UGH!!! I hope I can catch on quicker! Since I love to send emails and pictures and update people/family, I thought I would try this new blogging thing! We'll see how it goes! :).
I hate that I don't have all night to try and figure this thing out, but I have to go to work!