A Day At Mary's

Caleb and Mary have become pretty good friends. He’s gone to Mary’s (Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital) many times for several different medical problems and she’s always treated him well. Mary provides good food on those days when the visit is particularly long and she also gives some pretty good prizes. Once when Caleb spent the day with Mary he came home with a new Monopoly game and yesterday he came home with Twister. She has fun computers, lots of books, games and toys that help make Caleb and all those that accompany him feel right at home.

We arrived at Mary’s around 9:45 yesterday morning. Mary had so many friends visiting that our usual parking spot was taken. We tried our second most usual spot but it was also occupied so we had to select a new slot. I like Mary and all but having a regular parking stall means we’ve been there a little more frequently than I’d like.

Mary had lots of activities planned for us; an EEG, an appointment with a pediatric neurologist, and an MRI. Just trying to schedule each of these appointments caused a good deal of stress but we are so grateful that we were able to pack it all into one day, making just one visit to Mary’s.

First up was the EEG. In preparation, Caleb got to stay up until 12:00 am and had to be awakened at 5:30 in the morning. An effective EEG requires the patient to be asleep for part of the procedure. We were told to deprive him of sleep to make falling asleep for the test a bit easier. Caleb felt it a special treat to get to watch all of Mom and Dad’s TV shows and his late bedtime caused some envy from his sister. He didn’t seem at all tired when we arrived at the second floor EEG lab. Mary had Dora on for Natalie and Jon had Miss Berry (my name for his Blackberry phone) for entertainment while Caleb and I went to the procedure room.

The tech measured his head with a tape measure and covered him with red markings. Then she rubbed some sort of adhesive onto each red spot, dipped little electrodes into a thick cream and attached them to his head. Caleb held a mirror and grew wary of his appearance as he watched the process. Once the electrodes were placed, his head was wrapped in gauze and we were ready to begin.

The first portion of the test involved a strobe light that blinked every few seconds in increasing frequencies. Then he had to blow forcefully on a pinwheel for three minutes straight. The final part of the test, by far the most stressful for me, was when he had to fall asleep.

Because of the MRI that would be taking place in the afternoon, Caleb wasn’t allowed to eat anything after 7 am but he could have clear liquids so we had given him a Sprite. That darn Sprite in combination with Caleb’s tiny bladder caused us some trouble. Though he’d already gone three times prior to being hooked up to all the wires, he needed to go again and there was absolutely no way he was going to fall asleep without relieving that pressure. After about thirty minutes of trying to coax him to sleep, the tech unhooked the consol that held all the wires and I carried it behind him to the restroom. While he was going and I was holding a box full of wires, I begged him to try harder to fall asleep. That meant no more visions of Tom and Jerry, which were giving him a minor case of the giggles. I suggested counting backwards instead. I also asked if I could rub his back. She approved and a few minutes and many silent prayers later, sleep finally fell on my boy.

After 12 minutes of sleep he was startled awake by the tech clapping loudly in his ear. With that, the test was complete. She removed the electrodes and did a quick rub on his head with a wet washcloth. But not all the red or the goop came off and he spent the rest of the day looking as if he had a head full of scabs surrounded by greasy hair.

We had an hour to spare before our appointment with the neurologist and it was lunch time so Natalie, Jon and I took advantage of Mary’s yummy food. Poor Caleb couldn’t eat so he opted for a comfy chair in the waiting room where he passed the time playing his Leapster.

The appointment with the neurologist was informative. He described Caleb’s EEG as “minimally abnormal.” By that he meant that it showed some abnormalities but none that required immediate prescription of medication. The strobe light portion of the test showed abnormal brain waves and the other concern was that the left and right sides of his brain were not producing the same number of waves. Evidently a child his age should produce 8-10 brain waves per second. The left side of his brain was doing just that but his right had dips to 6 or 7. It was just slightly lower than average and one more reason to warrant the MRI which was to be done shortly. As I understood it, another explanation could be that the right side could be the part of his brain that experienced last Friday’s seizure and it is just still recovering. He said we have a 1 in 5 chance of a second seizure and it would most likely occur in six months to a year. If a second seizure were to happen, he told us he then be diagnosed epileptic and immediately put on medication. The good news is; we have a four out of five chance that it will not reoccur. The doctor answered my many questions, gave Caleb a quick physical exam and sent us on our way.

By now it was nearly 2:00 and the kids were growing quite restless. It was a beautifully sunny day so I took the kids outside to burn some energy while Jon checked in with work. We ran a few races and breathed in the fresh air before gathering our things and making our way to our third and final location, Radiology.

It had been determined that Caleb be sedated for the MRI. Mary’s sedation area is really great. We had a semi private room/waiting area where Caleb was put under and later recovered and it was equipped with some great toys, like a play kitchen, to keep Natalie entertained.


True to form, Caleb handled the IV beautifully but watching him be sedated was the hardest part of the day. The doctor told us he would fall asleep within twenty seconds but I wasn’t prepared for the abrupt way my son would transform from alert to gone. Once they started the drug he began counting silently, using his “magic finger” to write the numbers in the air. When he reached nine his finger slowed, he turned toward us with an intense, confused stare and slumped to the gurney in an instantaneously sleep. Just like that, he was down. I nearly broke down in that moment. He looked lifeless. But I held together as Natalie and I watched him be loaded into the MRI machine. Then they closed the enormous door while Jon remained in the room to watch the procedure. He was given sound deafening headphones to block the noise but even with them, he described it as a blaring Metallica bass line. That noise would’ve been highly disturbing to Caleb so we were glad he would not even remember what had taken place.

He woke ten minutes after the scan was complete. Once they determined he was well enough to go, we were on our way. It was almost 5 pm and we’d been at Mary’s all day. Caleb felt alright but stumbled to the car like a drunk, his body still weak.

We admired Mary’s view of Mt. Rainier and then said good-bye. I had one hour before I needed to be at Scouts and work was waiting on Jon. It’s true what they say, there’s no rest for the weary.

We have reason to hope that this new road ended with our day at Mary’s. It just may be that we won’t have to deal with any of this ever again. We will find out the results of the MRI in a couple of days.

We are so grateful for the continued prayers and support of our family and friends. We have truly felt them. Thank you.