Jackhammers And The Lion King: A Look Inside His Head

Today was MRI day. St. Jude took pity on us poor people on Pacific Daylight Time schedules and didn't schedule our first appointment until 1:00 pm today so we got to try and sleep in.

Steven's friend Zach, who had radiation at the same time as Steven, was coincidentally scheduled for his MRI today also. Zach's MRI was first, and afterward he was giving Steven advice on how to get his IV in (just count 1,2,3, then don't look when they put the needle in, you don't want to see that).

We dosed Steven up with ativan, triple the dose he was taking during chemo. We waited for the obvious signs of intoxication to show up, staggering, slurring his words, then we put him in a room and coated both arms with Elomax, a creme that numbs his skin. Steven watched Lord of the Rings for distraction.

After he was good and numb, nurses Leslie and Tara and Angie from Child Life came in to distract him and get the IV in. He cried a bit and it took several tries, but we finally got it in.

Next was the Big Event, the MRI. Steven got to choose some music (the Lion King soundtrack) and the staff at St. Jude piped the music into his headphones, accompanied by the jackhammer-like thuds and piercing shrieks of the MRI magnets.

Lastly, he had blood tests to test how his adenal glands are performing. We went back to the Grizzlies House and Miss Brooke, his teacher from St. Jude, stopped by to visit us there.

Tomorrow we see how his hearing is doing, then we meet with his oncologist to hear about his MRI results.

- Kathleen