MRI: first and hopefully my last

Just had my MRI test today. It wasn't scary than I had expected. Had I not been experiencing excruciating pain on my left shoulder/blade and neck, I would have skipped this part. I am nearly done with the steroids but still on Naproxen, a muscle relaxant.

I initially thought I will be carried into a suffocating time capsule, however, the machine looked totally different when I arrived. There's the bed and a fixture overhead beyond the bed. No doughnut hole or any of that sort. The set-up of the room was cozy enough that I'd fall asleep especially with the warm lights on and full blast air-con.

After dressing up and all, the tech let me lie on the bed, positioned my neck on a metal brace, tucked a cushion under my legs, covered me with a thermal blanket, then finally secured the metal brace in front of my face and inserted ear pads so I won't move a single bit. He again asked if I was claustrophobic. I am not.

So in a few minutes, he turned the unit on and the fixture above slid down towards me and stopped halfway. My face was around 6 inches away from the ceiling. Now I have figured why they call it an Open Air MRI coz all my sides are free and the light is still apparent. It seemed as if I was an auto mechanic just checking out the underside of a car. I wasn't worried at all for I know somebody's watching over me.

1, 2, 3, ..and the hammering sounds begun with an interval of 5 minutes. First, a tom-tom drum and drill in unison. Then silence. Followed by a sewing machine and big-ben clock combined. Then, silence. Then comes a slow pounding beat. Then, silence. A few knocks follow. Then silence. These go on and on without a shuffle. It was so annoying that I couldn't fall asleep.

25 minutes had passed and it was over. Thank heavens! That was it? No sweat! ;)

In 2 days, the results will be out. Hopefully, it's nothing serious. Well, I guess, I really am growing old and these symptoms are the aftershocks of how I've spent my life in my younger days, that is, carefree and sometimes careless.

Now, I couldn't afford to abuse my back anymore. It's my bread and butter. *wink*

Happy Parents

I couldn't explain how delighted we were when Kimi pooped in the toilet for the first time tonight!! :)

Months before, it seemed impossible coz he couldn't keep still on the bowl. The longest time he will sit is roughly 2-3 mins. So, what we did was we have instilled on his mind that he can have any toy he wants if only he will poop in the toilet. And whenever he grabs a toy on the display shelf in the dept. store and we know that he likes it a lot, we will constantly remind him that he can have it once he has pooped in the toilet. This has been our long playing song but it has finally paid off...yipee!! Indeed, it only takes patience...and tons of it.

What we've learned from the entire course is that you can never force a child to do something out of his will nor strictly impose it. Everything happens naturally.

Of course, each parent has his/her own style of raising his/her child. I'm neither in a capacity to claim that our style is right. Well, what's proven effective is to reward your child when he does something right. A hug, a kiss, a pat on the head, a rub on the back, a thumbs-up, a high-five or a piece of candy/chocolate that he enjoys shall suffice. It doesn't have to be great or expensive.

However, there are times when you must also satiate a child's yearning. You will try not to deprive your child but not to a point of over-pampering him. There is always a limit.

...enough of the blabbing. We're just overwhelmed. It's such a simple happening, but we can never trade it in for anything else. Fulfillment to the max! Hopefully, this won't be the last... The list goes on and he still has a lot to go..

Nevertheless, he can now officially go to school come September.. *yey*