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| This fictional story depicts a typical scenario of a young child receiving an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Image) scan at Children’s Hospital. It is intended only to give parents and families a brief overview of what to expect when using our MRI services. This scenario will vary depending on your child’s health and specific procedure. Older children may be able to have an MRI without sedation, but young children typically require sedation so they won’t move during the test. For an MRI, you have to remain completely still for 30-90 minutes. For more information, contact Children’s Hospital Radiology Department at (865) 541-8116 or e-mail us.
10 p.m.
7:00 a.m.
7:30 a.m. We just arrived at Children’s Hospital and have checked into the Radiology Department. A nice nurse named Nancy came to meet me and put special cream on my arms. The cream will make my skin "go to sleep" because I need a little plastic straw called an IV for my test. Nancy says it is OK because I won’t even feel it. Now we go to registration, a place where my mom fills out a bunch of papers. After we register, Nancy comes to get us and takes us to the MRI area. First, we go into the education room. I get to look at some neat books and watch my movie, while my mom talks to the nurse about what the MRI does. Mom tells Nancy about me, too. The nurse takes my blood pressure, listens to my heart and weighs me. Nancy tells my mom that the average MRI test takes 30-45 minutes, and they can do up to seven MRI scans a day here at Children’s Hospital. Nancy also tells us that anyone with a pacemaker can’t come near the MRI equipment because it can mess up how the pacemaker works. Nancy tells my mom that she can stay with me until I take a nap.
Next a doctor comes and talks to my mom and me. The sedation doctor tells us that he is going to put a milkshake, the sleepy medicine, in my straw. The sedation doctor also talks with my mom about what it means for me to go to sleep and how they will monitor me the entire time. My nurse Nancy introduces me to David and tells me he’s the MRI technician who’s going to do my test. He’s been doing MRI tests for a long time. He tells me he is glad to be here at Children’s Hospital because he loves to help kids like me. He explains to me and my mom that the MRI uses a high-strength magnetic field to create an image of almost any part of the body – it can take pictures of everything from the brain to your bones. He says there is a copper shielding around the whole room where the MRI is to make the machine work. And the magnetic field is always on. You can’t just turn it on and off like a light bulb. Because the magnet is always on, I can’t wear my earrings or favorite necklace inside the room. No metal can be worn or taken inside the MRI area. I heard a chirping noise while David was talking with us, and I asked him what it was. He said it is the cooling system for the MRI, and that sound is just a part of the normal way the machine works. It cools down the coils inside the magnet, and that’s what makes the chirping sound.
8:30 a.m. Next, they wheel me on this cool bed out into the hall by the MRI. David asks me to lie down on what he calls the treatment table – it looks like a strange bed that you lie down on, only it’s more like a cot like when you go camping. He tells me the special bed is going to move into the machine to take a picture of my head. It will never even touch me – it will just take a picture of me with a special kind of equipment. Next, the doctor gives me my milkshake in my straw. Within a few seconds, I am very sleepy and fall asleep. A Little Later…
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My MRI is scheduled for 8:30 tomorrow morning. The radiology assistant talked with my mom about what I can and cannot eat or drink before bed or in the morning before my test. For example, eight hours before the test, a child can have solid foods; six hours before the procedure, small children can still have formula; four hours before the procedure, babies can have breast milk; but up to two hours before the procedure, all children can only have clear liquids. Mommy says that the instructions may be different for my friend at school who is having an MRI next week so all parents must talk with the Radiology Department for specifics. The point is that I have to be really still and quiet for about 30 minutes during the MRI, and there is a chance they may have to give me medicine so I will go to sleep. The “sleepy medicine” will keep me from wiggling around during the MRI. I can’t take the medicine if I have had anything to eat or drink, so I am going to get a glass of water right now so I won’t be thirsty in the middle of the night. 
Mom and I are all ready to go to Children's Hospital. I remembered to get my favorite stuffed animal and bring a movie along to watch if I need to wait.
Nancy says that now we are going to the Treatment Room. I get to lie on a tall bed where she wipes off my cream. Another nurse named Tamika and one named Sue put in my plastic straw, my IV. I don’t feel anything and just lie on the bed and talk with my mom.
Wow, the scan is over. It wasn’t bad at all, and I wake up with my mom right at my side. She tells me how quickly I went to sleep after the milkshake and how I had been sleeping for 45 minutes. The “milkshake” medicine that made me sleepy really did help me lie still during my scan. I’m still a little sleepy even though my nurse Nancy said it’s OK for me to go home now. Nancy gives me something to drink and then we are ready to go home. Mom promised me that we could go get some breakfast after my MRI, and I can’t believe it is over already. Nancy did say that I needed to spend a quiet day the rest of today, and I will be ready to go to soccer practice tomorrow. I may have to come back to Children’s Hospital again and have another MRI. And if any of my friends have to have an MRI here at Children’s, I’ll tell them that it’s not bad at all! 