Mia gets an MRI

Sometimes I wish I could be like Bret. I wish I could throw myself on the floor, kick and scream for a good hour. Let some frustration out, then re-group and continue with life like it's a bowl of cherries.
Instead, I find myself reaching my breaking point and producing shoulder-trembling sobs over the phone with a friend, or with a nurse I've never met, or one I've met too many times. It's a short lived tantrum as my mind tries to come to terms with my daughter's brain condition, my lack of knowledge, and all the new information I have to learn and cope with. Sometimes I need to cry for a good minute or two before composing myself in order to get the strength I need to do and learn what I need to do to help Mia.  I think if maybe I just stood outside the E.R and yelled,

THIS FREAKIN' SUUUUUUCKS!!!!

I would save myself the embarrassment of breaking down as often and in front of so many people.

Anyhow, enough about me. This post was about Mia's MRI anyway.

Yesterday we could NOT get Mia's pain under control. Being held hurt, touching her hurt. If I just laid her down and left her there, it hurt. Whenever I tried giving her some Tylenol, she would gag and throw up the medicine and her entire bottle.
She had a rough day yesterday too. I shaved her hair off in order to "even out" the bald spots created by the neurosurgeons. But there's no even-ing it out. It looks awful and I mourn the loss of Mia's hair, but I look forward to 2 weeks from now when it's grown out.

She still looks so pretty! Look at that face! 

Then, we went to the pediatrician's office for her 6 month check up and shots, where I had one of those breakdowns I mentioned above. Everyone loves Mia at her pediatrician's office.
So, after a 5 hour nap and taking an hour and a half to drink her bottle, then throwing it up... Again. I called neurosurgery. They told us to take her to the E.R. again.
I was going to have Heath stay with Bret, while I went with Mia to the E.R. but if I had to go to that place by myself again, I was going to do more than just sob for a minute or two. So, Bret's grandparents took him and I left (he gave me the tightest hug and broke my heart some more because I wasn't sure if we were going to go home that night or spend another night at the hospital).
While at the E.R. you have to tell like 10 different people the same information over and over again. I was so glad to have Heath there for moral support and to keep me from breaking down. Especially when they told us that there might be something wrong with her shunt. Again.

Mia had her very first MRI. She's so brave, that thing is loud and scary. I personally hate getting MRI's, but like everything, she took it like a champ. I have never seen a more beautiful brain. I know I'm biased and Mia's brain is the only one I've ever seen consistently, but I was proud of myself for being able to detect the ventricles in those scans and notice an improvement from last week. Still, when the neurosurgery resident came to our room to explain the shunt to us, I realized that we've just begun scratching the surface in our knowledge of the brain and all its intricacies.
This is how I can best explain it...
The brain has a bunch of freeways and highways where fluid travels. A shunt provides another way for it to travel. However, when there's scar tissue (from a shunt placement or a revision), sometimes it can block that exit way. That blocks the shunt and keeps it from working. That's what happened to Mia's shunt this last time and why they had to put it in the other side. LAST time, the shunt wasn't "shunting" enough, and THIS time it's shunting just right. So, her head had to get used to the new pressure of fluid.
Is your mind blown yet?
Mine was.
That's why Mia was so irritated changing from a sitting position to a laying position, to ANY position. The pressure in your head changes every time you do that. But our brains regulate it faster and get used to it faster than a person with hydrocephalus who's just had their shunt changed.

Look! Mia's x-ray! That's her shunt right there, that staw-like thing that goes pretty far into her brain. Then it comes out to her skull and wraps around her ear and down into her abdominal cavity. 

You get extra points if you can spot her shunt in this x-ray and tell me how it wraps around. It's pretty long huh? That's because she's going to grow and it needs to be able to stretch with her.

They gave us new pain medication in the form of a supossitory (mind blown again) and we were sent home.
Total time at the E.R: 5 hours

I am happy to report Mia is doing better today. She has smiled a lot more and we try not to move her as much or as fast. At least until she is for sure out of the "pain" stage. In a few more days.

Thanks for all the prayers! They're working!