in which I am amazed with how far modern medicine has come

Y'all.  I bet this post had you thinking I was going to talk about all the new technology in various medical fields, and how much we {as a society; I didn't go to medical school} know about the practice of medicine now, and the fascinating intricacies of those things.  I'm sorry to disappoint you, but this is actually about all the little "extras" nowadays.  {Maybe these aren't new; this is my first experience with a child's MRI, but they seemed new-fangled to me.}

In late May, P was scheduled to have an MRI.  Thankfully, prayers were answered and the scan came back clear, so you can rest assured that he is fine and not be worried for the rest of my post.  We had to go to the children's lab in Asheville.  It is worth noting that P wasn't nervous at all, but I was still glad that common sense is showing up in that facility these days.

While we were waiting for the MRI, P was informed that either his dad or I could go back with him.  He assured the technician that he wanted to go back by himself.  Then we were told that a therapist would be coming out to explain the process of the MRI to P.  When she arrived, she asked for permission to include P in a study.  We filled out a short survey before and after P's MRI.  The study was to determine whether having a therapist come and explain the process of a medical procedure before the procedure was done would help kids have less anxiety about the procedure.  {This is what I mean when I say the common sense is starting to come into play here.  I mean, hello, of course that's going to lower anxiety.}  But the grant for this study bought the lab a child-sized wooden MRI machine and there was a cd full of MRI sounds, and the patient and the therapist used Grover {a bluish-purple puppet} to act out what an MRI is like.

You can tell from P's expression that he's not anxious at all.  The therapist then asked, "Now, P, did they tell you that someone can come with you back to the MRI machine?" and P responded, "Yes.  And I already told them that I want to go by myself."  {They had us come back and get screened just in case.}  There were headphones for P to wear while the machine went to work.  He asked for "boring music" so that "the music won't make me want to bust up out of here", and the classical music they played must have worked, because P fell asleep about halfway through his MRI!

The extra touches {headphones, a puppet, and a therapist} made the whole experience much more positive for the parents and the patient.  Thank you Mission Children's Lab!