Sara's MRI

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provides good contrast between the different soft tissues of the body, which makes it especially useful in imaging the brain, muscles, the heart, and cancers compared with other medical imaging techniques such as computed tomography (CT scan) or X-rays. Unlike CT scans or traditional X-rays, MRI uses no inonizing radiation.

Sara had an MRI on Thursday September 22nd, and it was an all day event. We were up early and left home at 5:15am. We arrived at 6:30am and waited for them to let us in at 7am. By 7:30 she was ready to go, and getting an IV and put under. Once she was asleep, they intubated her and the proceedure was 2 hours. She took a long time to wake up, and once she was muttering out words and sounds it was a half hour before she even opened up her eyes! It was nice to hold her as she woke up because she was ready to get out of that bed and "Play" as she'd yell out! With out having control of her limbs and head this idea of "Playing" that she was set on, would have been very hard to do! We were moved up to the Cardiac unit on 4C4, around 11:30am. She was wide awake and not wanting to rest, so Tree House TV kept her entertained. She was so hungry that she ate and drank whatever was in front of her! Her oxygen Saturations were down even while on oxygen, and it took her a while to get back to "normal for Sara" (about 85%) before they started to wean her off it. We waited until about 3pm to see the resident Doctor, and he got the discharge papers going so we could go home. We left around 4pm, and were happy to be home at 5:30pm. 

The reason our Cardiologist wanted to do an MRI on her heart is to get a good look. She hasn't had one in the past, only Cardiac Caths which are more invasive and usually take Sara a week to recover from.

The result of the MRI shows that there is about 1/2 the blood flow through the Glen to the pulmonary artery. So this means there isn't enough blood flowing into her lungs, and this is why she has blue/purple lips often. They would like to see if the cause is collateral veins of if it is pressures in her pulmonary artery. Now they want to do a Cardiac Cath surgery sometime in the next few months to figure out why there is low blood flow to her lungs. The team of Cardiologist at the Cardiac Unit at the Stollery Hospital had a conference about Sara's MRI and decided on scheduling a Cath. After she has the Cath they will discuss and determine what will be the next step for Sara.

We are so thankful for all your prayers, we are so encouraged by all of you! Happy Thanksgiving!