Mei Li has her MRI!

Heading out at 7:15 a.m. for her MRI of her spine. Got her Santa hat and her ever-ready smile!

Mei Li was THRILLED when Santa paid her a visit in the MRI waiting room!! She flew off of my lap, sprinted to get her Santa hat out of the wagon and nearly tackled Santa as she ran to him waving her Santa hat! Then she gave him one of her famous Mei Li hugs! :) Children's Hospital does an AMAZING job making their children feel special and happy. So glad Mei Li can get her medical needs met at a wonderful hospital like Children's!

Mei Li's favorite treat is a good sucker! She is a sucker for suckers!! She also has taken a BIG shine to Santa. So, when we found this Santa sucker in the gift shop, we knew it had to be her treat for being such a trooper. She LOVED it! :)

Still groggy from the anesthesia, Mei Li got to get her picture taken with Santa before we left.

Resting her sleepy head on Daddy's shoulder. . . our Christmas angel. . . She truly is a Christmas miracle. She is our gift this Christmas.

Today was a big day for Mei Li, and it went smoother than I ever could have hoped. We felt the prayers of family and friends with us today! Mei Li had her MRI on her spine. They had to put her to sleep for this procedure. The last surgery, when they put her to sleep, she was sick the entire rest of the day. Thankfully, they only used gas for this test, and she suffered "no" sickness!! :)

Today's test will give Dr. Blount the information he needs to make a game plan for Mei Li's spinal surgery. They took images of the fatty tumor in her lower back to see how and where it attaches to her spinal cord. We have no news on the test yet, but we hope to learn something tomorrow.

On the 28th, Mei Li will have a test to measure the functionality of her bladder. Dr. Blount ordered both of these tests to be done before he operates on Mei Li's spine.

Mei Li was very brave today, as always. The hardest part for her was "not eating". She ate around 8:00 Sunday night, and she was not allowed to eat again until after the test, which was noon on Monday. She could not drink anything either. But, like everything in her life, she took it all in stride. And, most of the time, she had a smile that would make everyone who passed by her do a double-take and turn around to talk with her. Her bravery and hope and determination and overcoming spirit inspires me every day. . . and challenges me to take notes from a little 4 year old girl and strive to do half as well :).

Once she got to Children's, she was in for some exciting surprises. Santa came to visit her right before she went back for her test!! That was an exciting moment for Mei Li, for sure!!

The testing and her recovery took just about 1 hour. And, we greeted her when she awoke with a big green Santa sucker! Her eyes lit up immediately. That was all it took. . . seeing Mama and Daddy and a big green Santa sucker. . . to bring her out of the fog of anesthesia!! Haha!! She said she was hungry, so we took her to Surin (a wonderful Thai restaurant. . . and Mama's favorite!!) and ordered her Coconut soup and dumplings. She ate every bite!! For her, it was a taste of home and good ol' comfort food.

She is down for the night, and has been her sweet, mischievous happy little self all afternoon! :) We pray for a good report from Dr. Blount tomorrow.

Good night! And, I'll update again as soon as we know something more.

Thanks for following!! And, thank you for your prayers for our little Mei Li!