Matt's Update

Matt's MRI was yesterday and everything went relatively well.

First off, we went to my folks' house for the weekend.  My brother Peter and his wife and son had come down from Utah to visit and we wanted to see them one more time before they left.  Sunday night Matt told Uncle Pete that he wanted to practice being very still for his MRI.  So Pete timed him. 

One minute of laying perfectly still. 

Two minutes of laying perfectly still. 

Finally, Matt laid perfectly still with his cousin's Boppy pillow over him as the MRI for three minutes.  



Uncle Pete helping Matt practice for the MRI.

  We left for the MRI a bit late but discovered that even with Monday morning traffic heading into Phoenix, the Phoenix Children's Hospital was only about an hour away from home.

We checked in and Matt was immediately taken back for his chest x-ray.  Then we walked across the hospital for the MRI.  We had our own private waiting area.  The room had a TV, scales, vitals machines, books, toys, and a very cold air conditioning system.  We sat and waited for our turn, but there was a little girl on the MRI machine already. 

We waited some more for our turn.  The nurse came in and took Matt's vitals (it was nice having all the machines in the room with us so we didn't have to do a bunch of walking around the hospital).  We asked her if Matt could do the MRI without anesthesia since he'd practiced.  But she and the doctor kindly explained that he's too young to stay awake.  He was fine with that and so we were too.  Then we waited some more.

Then the doctor came in to tell us that of the two machines they have, only one was working.  And that working machine had just broken down.  We kind of laughed about it since Matt's only other MRI was taken in Denver and the machine had broken down right before Matt's appointment.  We had had to reschedule for the next day because you can't keep a 2-year-old hungry for that long.  We silently prayed that the machine would start working again so we could just get this thing over with.

We waited some more.

Finally, around noon we were told that the machine was up and running and Matt would be taken back within about 30 minutes.  What seemed about 60 minutes later, Matt went back, laid on the table for the MRI and used his practice for laying still as he breathed in his "sleepy medicine" from his mask and quickly rolled his eyes back and feel asleep. 

About an hour later the doctor came back with some initial news on the results of the test.  Matt's valve leakage is moderate, but that's been the case for the last couple years.  The walls of his right ventricle are thickening due to pumping so hard to offset the leakage, but that issue is mild/moderate.  There's no blockage anywhere and that is the point that would determine immediate surgery.  Overall, Matt's check up was good.  His cardiologist is on vacation for a week or so, but the MRI doctor said there's no immediate need for us to consult with him.  In the next two weeks we'll get a call to come in a see the cardiologist and go over the official results. 

We went back to see Matt and he sleepily told us that if he'd taken one more breath in that mask that he would've fallen asleep.  Then he asked what we were doing there because he needed to go into the machine for his pictures.  He looked up and behind his hospital bed and a major look of SHOCK hit his face as he realized he was in a different room.  We had to explain to him that he was done already.  It was cute.

The best part was knowing Matt doesn't need his next surgery for a while.  But nearly as wonderful as that was feeling the peace and comfort that prayers given on our behalf brought.  I don't know that I can even explain how much easier it was to endure the appointment feeling the power of prayer.  But I do want to offer a sincere Thank You to everyone that thought of us and prayed for us over the last few weeks.

Our tradition with Matt is that after his appointments we do something with him.  Usually it's just lunch, but with the bigger and more involved appointments we've done something a little more.... like the Denver Zoo or the Museum of Natural History.  So Josh figured out a plan.

Matt got to ride to see the movie Transformers 3 in Bumblebee himself. 

It was cool!

Josh took a picture of Matt next to Bumblebee, but it didn't save, so here's what Bumblebee looks like:

Matt was excited!!


Matt inside Bumblebee (with our friend Rebekah)

 It was great to be with Matt and even greater to get good news from the doctor, despite freezing to death in our waiting room as we spent hours waiting for the MRI.

Thank you again for all your thoughts and prayers!!