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A Day in the Life of Teddy – Chapter Three

Teddy with VR Goggles in MRIIt’s time. The room we’re in seems a little small, only because the MRI machine takes up so much space. It looks just like the pictures Sara showed us. Even though it was really helpful to hear the MRI noises with the Tablet before, now that we are in the room Andrew is back to being nervous. He’s never seen one of these machines up close before, so of course it’s kind of surprising to come face to face with it for the first time. Andrew is squeezing my paw tight; I don’t mind at all. I hope it’s helping him.

Andrew doesn’t want to go inside the MRI scanner. He’s still sitting in the wheelchair the nurse used to bring him down to this room. He won’t stand up. His Mommy and Daddy are telling him that it’ll be over before he knows it, that it won’t hurt at all, that there’s nothing to be afraid of. Still, Andrew won’t move.

I know what to do. I volunteer to go first. Just like before with the Tablet, if I can show Andrew exactly what it’s like to lie down in the MRI scanner maybe he’ll be less scared. He’ll see that if I can do it, then he can do it.

Sara helps me onto the table. She puts virtual reality goggles on me so that I can watch my favorite show, the Berenstain Bears, during my MRI. This will be great to concentrate on and help to pass the time.

I lie down flat on the table. Someone in the connecting room behind the window pushes a button and in I go into the MRI machine. Even though it’s this big thing taking up the room, inside the machine it’s very narrow. I have to keep my body really straight inside, just like Andrew will have to. I hope he’s watching closely. The most important thing about being inside of the MRI scanner is to lie completely still. I’m pretending that I’m frozen like a big piece of ice. While I’m lying here, I think about how much fun Andrew and I are going to have later when this is all over.

I’m all done. Someone presses a different button and I am taken out of the MRI machine. Sara brings me over to Andrew. He looks more relaxed. His eyes aren’t as wide, he isn’t fidgeting anymore. Now that I went inside the MRI machine, came back out, and am completely fine, I think he knows that he can do it too. That it really isn’t anything to be afraid of doing.

Andrew stands up. We trade places.

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