On Friday 17th July, Daniel had his first Magnetic Resonance Imaging ('MRI') performed on his hip and femur. It was also his first general anaesthetic. General anaesthetics are used for children because they find it too difficult to stay still for a long period of time and it can also be quite distressing.The report will be sent to Daniel's doctor, Dr Paley, in the US enabling Dr Paley to get a better understanding of Daniel's condition before the surgery is performed in October.
We had to be at the hospital at 7am and Daniel was nil by mouth since midnight. We were worried how he would cope without his four weetbix in the morning but the excitement of going in a car to the hospital (a novelty for central Londoners without a car) overtook his hunger.
When we arrived at the children's ward at Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Daniel had some routine checks done (e.g. temperature, oxygen levels) which took a lot of convincing and distraction methods.
We were seen by the anaesthetist who explained the procedure and gave Daniel a pre-med which would help him relax and not remember having the general anaesthetic. We then walked to the scanning centre and Shane took Daniel in to have to the general anaesthetic while I waited in the waiting room with Max.
Shane said that a mask with a balloon attached was placed over Daniel's mouth and he was asked to blow up the balloon. He was not too keen on that until Daddy had a go and then he wanted a turn. It took about half a minute of breathing in the gas for Daniel to go asleep.
We all nervously waited in the waiting room. Shane found it more difficult because he had had to hand a limp Daniel over to a large room of people but the last I saw of Daniel was finding everything funny as a result of his pre-med. Max, of course, slept through the whole event.
After about 45 minutes, Daniel was awake and Shane went in to see him. He was having a full blown tantrum! This did not stop until we got back to the ward and he was given some toast and juice. He ate four pieces of toast and drank three cups of juice!
We had to stay around for four hours to make sure their were no complications with the general anaesthetic. Daniel got a car transporter as a present for being a brave boy and played with that for the entire time so he was not bothered. Shane, Max and Dorothy caught up on some sleep after an early start!
Here is one of the many images obtained during the MRI just so you know what it looks like.
We have included a video below to show Daniel walking without his prosthetic. He doesn't let his condition bother him at all, he just gets on with it! In fact, lately he has not wanted to always wear it because he can walk so well without it.
Posted By Kristen (Daniel's Mum)
