I keep meaning to post an update about the MRI experience but somehow life seems to get in the way and I get dragged away from the computer, leaving a fragment of an entry that invariably gets deleted a short time later. I have however, finished moving the remainder of this blog from lj. It's taken a while but I believe that it is finally here in its entirety.

The MRI went well. I am thinking that they don't get too many children in that particular department and Tatyanna was loaded up with stickers and sparkly plastic bracelets before the procedure even started. Watching them set up was also interesting as anything metal couldn't be anywhere near the MRI machine due to the fact that it's pretty much a giant magnet. The whole room was a flurry of activity as various anaesthetic equipment parts were traded off for different pieces that were made from either aluminum or plastic. Longer tubing had to be found which sparked a debate as the MRI department felt that anesthesiology should have said tubing and anesthesiology was positive that MRI should have it. I believe that it was eventually found in a completely unrelated department. The paper work portion was also interesting and Trent and I kept our selves amused by answering the various questions on Tatyanna's behalf.....any tattooes, shrapnel, piercings of the illicit nature and the like. By the time that things were ready to go, Tatyanna was so bored with sitting in the "staging" area that she was only too happy to go with a random nurse to "check out something new". I must admit that I do feel a pang of guilt over this part and I try not to think about how it was for her when they put her out because in the end, there were no lasting ill effects. With Tatyanna it is really difficult to determine how much she processes and how much she remembers. She doesn't seem scarred or unduly traumatized by the ordeal so I'll go with that.

The whole procedure lasted only 45 minutes or so. Just long enough for Trent and I to run and grab a much needed caffeine fix and get back to the waiting area. We heard her howling before we were finished the coffee and as uncomfortable as it is listening to your child cry and not being able to do anything about it, it was kind of reassuring knowing that she came out of it OK. I have watched one too many House episodes to take that fact for granted.

Once we left the MRI department she spent another hour in recovery, was given several more stickers and bracelets and sent to pediatrics for more monitoring. After a 45 minute sleep, she woke up as if nothing had happened and demanded to go to the mall and eat fries.

*****

Fast forward one week......the results came in and were completely normal. This has surprised pretty much all the professionals that have been involved with Tatyanna thus far. Nobody was expecting normal. While the results are reassuring in that we know there are no tumours or structural abnormalities, it leaves a tonne of questions as to what exactly is going on.

This is what happens when you marry a horse person...

Trent: enters house after driving across the snow filled yard nearly getting the truck stuck on several occassions

Me: That was an impressive shoulder in you did up the quarter line of the yard

Trent: grumble grumble

Me: The half pass was also quite nice. I'd give it a 7 or so.

Trent: grumble grumble

Me: You need more impulsion in the hind end though.....there doesn't seem to be quite enough "drive"

Trent: I need a 4X4

Bringing Christmas craftiness to a whole new level

Having trouble getting into the holiday spirit this year? Why not try making a craft with your kids? From the star at the top of the tree to the pretty stings of colourful lights, most people should be able to find the supplies for this project laying around the house....or under the bathroom sink.

And if that's not festive enough you can always check out one of the many "Scared of Santa" galleries that are being showcased during the next few weeks.

death to microsoft.....or is it just karma?

Remember the post I made about a certain two zealous and protective parents who lovingly prescreened their son's present to ensure that disappointment and mayhem were not part of the Christmas morning proceedings? Those same two parents turned on the Xbox on Sunday night after the kids were in bed, not to play some GH3 because that would be wrong as the game had already been prescreened, but rather some other shoot the enemy sort of military game, and found that the Xbox no longer works. Or rather, is undergoing some sort of highly inconvenient identity crisis. The Xbox360 now believes that it is a CD player. It plays audio CD's and that is all. If you put a game in, the helpful message reads "This is an Xbox 360 disc, to play this disc use an Xbox 360 console" It does the same thing for movies. There are no " red rings of death" or broken pieces, no smoke or grinding sounds, just a confused Xbox which for all outward appearances should work. This irritates me greatly for two reasons. The first being that the machine is less than a year old. It was last year's Christmas present. The second being that Christmas morning just got a little more awkward. Games with no console to play them on is never a good thing. I'm now thinking that perhaps we should have taken the risk of letting the kids open their presents without checking them out first. Trent was in the military, he knows karate, he could have taken the convicts if there were any. Besides, they'd have been so hungry after sitting under a tree for several weeks we probably could have bribed them with Santa's leftover eggnog and cookies. It's Christmas after all, even escaped convicts need Christmas....right?

Tatyanna goes for her MRI tomorrow. We have spent 4 months waiting for an MRI that was listed as urgent. Nice.

This past weekend, Trent and I sunk to all new parenting lows. We actually opened our child's Christmas present while he was away for the weekend and played with it. I'd love to tell you that I feel guilty but given the stress we are under (that I may at some point feel like putting into words) I felt that we needed to do something to lighten things up a little. Guitar Hero III was just the trick. My brothers have both assured me that "prescreening" is always acceptable as a parent. Finding broken toys.....or a box full of escaped convict little people is never a good thing on Christmas morning and only sets you up for a lifetime of therapy bills. And who wants that really? There are a multitude of other incidents that I will no doubt be forking over good money to the local psychologist for. This was just one little thing that I could do to help ensure my child's well being......right???