Ben's CT scan

We took Ben to Children's Hospital in St. Paul this morning for a CT scan of his jaw. A few months ago we found a bony lump on the underside of his chin. The pediatrician and plastic surgeon were both stumped and said a CT scan was the only way to find out what it is.

So we were all set for the CT. They told us Ben would need to be sedated, since he had to be still during the procedure.

But when we got there, the nurse suggested we try doing it without sedation first. She said sometimes it works with kids his age, sometimes it doesn't.

So they strapped Ben onto the bed and wrapped up his arms, then put a strap across his forehead. At first it was obvious that he was just fascinated by the strange equipment and new faces.

When the bed started moving, he looked like he was starting to get freaked out. Jamey and I stood right over him (with lead vests on, of course) and so we started singing to him and that seemed to calm him down just enough. And the radiologists did their work just fast enough to get it done before he got too freaked out. Right when it was done he started crying just a little and clearly was heading for more if we didn't get him out. But the radiologists got the images they needed and we didn't need to sedate him. How wonderful!

Ben was such a little trooper! I'm so proud of him.

Big thanks to my aunt Ann who showed up at the crack of dawn to take care of Maddie, so we didn't have to haul her along too.

We won't find out the results of the CT until we can get an appointment with the plastic surgeon. Hopefully they can squeeze us in next week.