Thomas' Story Is A Mother's Pain

Imagine you are a seven year old boy with a brain tumor, locked in a tiny space, not knowing when you can come out. This is what the MRI was like for Thomas, when as 7-years-old boy he was being treated for brain cancer at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

​Thomas is strong. He completed chemotherapy, took his radiation treatments non-sedated and was getting MRIs since he was diagnosed with a tumor 6 days after his 6th birthday.  On MRI days, we prepared  for a difficult day with an anxious little boy. As parents, there is no greater pain than seeing your child suffer. ​

Thomas needed to get an MRI every 3 months.  The process  lasted from 1 to 2 hours, depending on how well he lay still and whether the MRI is brain and spine or just the brain.  As much as we tried to prepare him, too often the procedure had to be stopped and reschedule for another day. Complete sedation had risks and we continue to push him to get the MRIs non-sedated. We didn't want to add more risks or side effects of opiods to a brain cancer survivor’s long list of complications. 

​Each new MRI was a challenge.  He knew it will be long, uncomfortable, boring and very scary. He knew he would want to get out!  As parents, we had our own anxiety waiting for the results.  The worst has already happened once, but can happen again, if the MRI brings with it a picture of more cancer. 

​It is difficult to put into words how much it helped Thomas, when Walter Reed converted to an MRI with a video display, except to say it was truly be life altering.  With the use of his kindle, he coped with most medical procedures.  He has spent days in the hospital, with his kindle, without even noticing blood being drawn from his arm or that a nurse is intently working to make him well.  He escaped the pain of a procedure necessary for his cancer, because of the distraction.   However, the MRI, a long and difficult procedure, had no escape and was the only procedure we couldn't be with him.  He was alone in a tunnel which continued to pound.  A little help from a video display in the ever-dreaded-MRI-machine helped go a very long way in helping to ease Thomas’ anxiety.  MRI’s are no longer a secret dreaded procedure compounded by knowing it will happen again.

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Thomas isn’t the only brave warrior that would benefit from this system.  One might refer to the PVD system as a family system as the benefits go a long way in helping parents cope.  An MRI is tough for any child but the difference with a military family is that often the little warrior is missing one of his parents who might be deployed.  The remaining parent is often without local family support to help them get through the crisis.   In this case, not only is the warrior in the MRI alone, the remaining parent is waiting, worrying and terrified of what the latest MRI might disclose….and is waiting alone. This system would give us one less thing to worry about, because our child’s anxiety, both before, during and after, would be gone.  Taking away just one worry, for a family going through cancer, is priceless. 

​Members of the military have not been pardoned from critical diseases.  However, as military families, our life revolves around what is available within our system.  We are grateful to the incredible staff at Walter Reed that continued to do everything they could to bring health to Thomas.  However, we are forever grateful to those who helped make the PVD system available to our son and other children of the military.  In Thomas’ case, he will need to get MRIs for the rest of his life.  If we can make them easier now, it will help him for a lifetime.  We prayed every night for just one more day with Thomas.  Now with the help of MRIs we have turned days turn into weeks, months, and years.  We hope he outlives us and is able to someday serve others as they have served him.  We pray that the road he travels will be that of a cancer survivor with minimal scars from this terrible disease.