Charlie enjoyed showing off his "war wounds"!

Today Charlie and I were at Children's Hospital for an MRI and an Echo to rule out any problems associated with the syndrome he and I (and Nicholas and Emma) have been diagnosed with. It is called HHT (hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia) and was what caused the minor stroke I had in August (almost a year ago!) I had a malformation in my lung, but there can be problems in the brain as well. Therefore, the kids who also tested positive for the syndrome need to have these tests to rule out malformations in their lungs and brains. Once the first tests are completed and these problems are ruled out, the syndrome is really not a big deal. If they happen to have the malformations in either place, there are repairs that can be done, but I would rather not think that far ahead!

Anyway, Charlie was such a trooper! I was a wreck before, worried about how he would react to the pokes and IVs and big machines. He did great. He was so calm that they only needed to sedate him for the MRI, he actually just laid on the table and watched the computer screen as the technician did the Echo. After about 15 minutes, he fell asleep until the test was over.

For the MRI, he needed to be sedated and that was not a fun experience for me. He was awake for about 10 seconds before the meds kicked in, and he just went limp. Yuck. Everything went okay, though, and the results should be back within a week. Nicholas and Emma are going through the same tests next Tuesday, I am guessing they will not be as cooperative!