Spoiler: We got great news today!
Just to recap, Jenna had surgery in September to remove a benign dermal cyst from her head. It ended up being larger and deeper than the doctor anticipated, and he had some concerns about it spidering out into her brain cavity. He scheduled a brain MRI for 3 long months later. If a cyst was detected, we would almost certainly be talking about brain surgery to remove it.
Fast forward to Monday morning. We had to arrive at the hospital at 6:45am, which meant I got up at 2:30am to nurse Jenna one last time. I was hoping she would sleep right up until the time we had to leave but she was up at 5am. I tried to keep her still by rocking her in the dark, because I didn't want her crying or running around and making herself thirsty. I could tell she was thirsty but I distracted her as best I could. My parents were at our house to help with the boys so Adam and I could focus on Jenna. We left for the hospital.
Jenna entertained everybody in the waiting room at the hospital. She even got an old man suffering from cancer down on his knees playing with her. It was a great distraction for all of us. They finally called her in for her MRI at 8am. They gave us the option of giving her a "cocktail" drug to calm her down before they gave her gas and then the IV. We opted not to give her this medicine because of the side effects they listed. Instead I chose to go into the MRI room and try my best to keep Jenna calm while they put a gas mask on her face. This was the absolute worst part. They held her down on the table with the mask over her mouth and nose while I talked to her. She was wiggling and screaming and I hated watching it happen. But after no longer than a minute, she relaxed and looked sleepy. The nurse ushered me out of the room.
I met Adam in the hallway and tried not to cry. My phone buzzed with a text and it was my sister saying "God is with you". Those words were very comforting. Adam and I hugged each other in the hallway right there and prayed for Jenna.
Just a little over an hour later we were told the MRI was over. Jenna had not had any complications from the anesthesia. She didn't have to have a breathing tube in her throat this time, but rather had a tiny breathing device placed in the back of her throat. Everything was so much less invasive this time, which we were thankful for. We went into the recovery room where our baby girl was sound asleep. We stood and watched her and talked to the nurse while we waited for her to wake up. 15 minutes later she woke up coughing and she was quite fussy. But after a few minutes she settled down to nurse and that seemed to calm her down.
We were cleared to go home just a little while later. Jenna was kind of spacey but not as much as after her surgery.
She was off balance for a while at home, and kept falling over, but other than that she recovered really quickly from the MRI.
For the next couple days my heart raced every time my phone rang. We had been told we would get results within a few days. Late in the day Tuesday I got a call from Kaiser but it was just an appointment confirmation for Jenna's follow-up next week. The nurse on the phone told me I would find out Jenna's results at that appointment. I practically begged her to call me back sooner with the results. There was no way I could wait that long! She said she would do her best.
Today I got a voicemail from Jenna's nurse with the results. Her brain looks great and there are no signs of a cyst. Praise God! The last few months have been filled with a lot of worrying. A mother's worry for her children is like no other. But I have also experienced a lot of peace. The word chosen for her by the pastor who dedicated her at church was "peace". And I can honestly say I have felt a lot of peace through this whole experience. I turned it over to God and did not allow myself to dwell on the what-ifs. And now that we received great news today, we are rejoicing and thanking God for watching over our sweet girl! Our sweet girl with a perfect head.
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