July 21, 2016 "MRI"

Length- 34 in. (75-90 percentile) He's going to be tall!
Weight- 27 lbs. (50-75 percentile) He's really slowed down.
Head Circumference- 49 cm. (50-75 percentile) His head has always been oversized. This is the best percentile ever!

I thought they were going to sedate Rayden for his MRI today, but I was wrong. When I inquired, their response was "It is just a rapid sequence MRI and will only take about 5 min." That may not be a long time for an adult, but it is an eternity for a toddler. As soon as we entered the exam room Rayden started shaking his head "NO". The technicians thought this was funny. I knew they were going to have a hard time. They tried wrapping Rayden in a blanket like he was an infant. He burst out of that in no time flat. They tried putting the cage over his head and he continued to raise up and knock it off. After a lot of tight wrapping and foam pads over his head they THOUGHT they had him. As soon as he started going into the machine and the noises came on Rayden's arms came bursting out again. The technician actually climbed ON the table and crawled IN the MRI with Rayden!! He held his arms down as Rayden continued to kick him in the face the entire time. He just kept repeating "it's alright buddy" over and over. After what felt like an eternity, the table started sliding out and the man jumped off. I couldn't believe he did that. That was priceless! I asked him if that was the longest 'rapid sequence' he'd ever seen. Of course, he laughed and agreed.

Aug. 13, 2015--5.21cm

July 21, 2016--3.47cm

Through all of that kicking, and screaming I don't know how they were able to get such good images. We are so pleased to announce something is finally going right! Rayden's MRI showed that his ventricles have decreased almost 2 cm in a year! That means his brain has more room to grow.  In the scan it looks like Rayden only has one super large ventricle instead of two. Dr. Elton says since Rayden doesn't have the membrane that separates the two ventricles down the middle, it looks like one large ventricle. Although his Chiari II malformation has not changed his shunt is still in a good position. He does have some CSF surrounding the exterior portion of the brain though, nothing to worry about. Dr. Elton was very pleased. He said it was the best scan Rayden has had so far. To quote Dr. Elton, "He's doing remarkably well!"

Dr. Scott Elton & Rayden

I had so many questions and Dr. Elton took the time to answer each and every one. One of my main concerns was getting an explanation as to why he can feel his feet now when he never has before. Dr. Elton said he has actually seen nerves regenerate from time to time. He also said nerves that go to the muscles are different than sensory nerves. Rayden cannot MOVE his toes which tells us the 'muscle' nerves are damaged. He is FEELING something now when we touch him which is telling us that his 'sensory' nerves may be regenerating! Sounds like one of God's wonderful miracles to me!! There's no doubt in my mind that God has big plans for Rayden. He is going to have a glorious testimony to tell some day.

Dr. Elton said Rayden was doing so well that his follow up appointment could wait 6 mo. If all is still going well then he would push appointments out yearly. He added that when he puts shunts in as early as Rayden's he has found that they seem to fail within the first 5 years of life. Of course, I reminded him that he had already been in Rayden's brain 5 times!!! He giggled and replied that Rayden is certainly not the norm.