Hospital can often be a scary and confusing place for children
Within the many departments there is one small group dedicated
to helping young minds deal with difficult times
The play specialists
Brilliant
I have lots of goodies in here
Wendy has a treasure trove of props at her disposal
So this is one of our models
that we can show boys and girls
It's made out of Lego
and it is a little miniature scanner
Today she's helping five-year-old Sebastian
prepare for his regular brain scan
I am here for my pictures
Can you remember the name that we call it?
MRI scan
Well done, fabulous
When he was a toddler
Sebastian underwent two years of chemotherapy to treat a brain tumor
He gets an MRI scan every six months to check his progress
So will I take it out the box?
Lego! That is just what I like
So where do you think
you're going to be when you're going to have your MRI?
In there
And what part of your body are they going to scan?
Up here
That's right, your head isn't it
And what do you have to remember to do?
Be really still
That's right
So you show me you staying still?
Can you do that right now?
Can you practice staying still?
Oh, I think you're winning
To get someone of this age through this process
and without the need of an anaesthetic
it's a really great achievement for them
It gives them the empowerment of being
able to cope with things like that
coming in and out of hospital so
we're just really giving him
a little bit of support
Although Sebastian copes well
there's one bit of the procedure
he's not so keen on
What do you have your cream on your hands for?
Can you remember?
For all my jabs in my veins
That's right
The hardest thing
is probably having the cannula put in
Cos he's had jabs and things before
and he knows he doesn't like that bit of it
Then comes back out
It's stingy and it hurts
The cannula allows contrast dye
to be injected into Sebastian during the scan
You give my hand a squeeze
This will give his oncologist a very clear picture of his brain
There we go, it's all done
Seb, you were a hero okay
and I know you were scared
but that's what makes it even more impressive
With the cannula in place
Sebastian is now ready to face his 16th MRI scan
Pop this over your head
He can look up into the ceiling and he sees into the mirror
and then that means he can see his mum's
standing at the end of the bed so
he knows that she's there the whole time
and it means he keeps his head nice and still
You gonna wave to Mum?
He's still waving
It's very rare to get such good pictures out of a child
you usually have to repeat scans where they've moved
but Sebastian has been a really ideal patient
very happy
Well done Sebastian, it's all over
You've done wonderfully well
How was it in there?
Good, noisy
Sebastian did really well
I'm a very proud mummy right now
Lambert was like, wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle
Bye!
We've learnt a new word called scanxiety
So the next two weeks will be the worst two weeks of our lives
Just the waiting
you just don't know what they're gonna say
and you look at Sebastian and just see how lively he is
how excitable he is, you just worry until you hear the doctor
actually saying everything's stable
It is just the worst two weeks
It's been two weeks since Sebastian's brain scan
and this time he's here with Dad
We are in to get the results of Sebastian's latest scan
He gets a scan every six months
just to check that nothing's changed since the end of his treatments
How are you?
Good
Good, I'm loving your hat
Are you going to be Santa's helper?
Yeah
Are ya?
This time Sebastian can face hospital without his emotional support toy
Lambert, where's Lambert?
At home
Did he not want to come today?
No, he doesn't need to
Only at like, the sore bits
He just keeps me brave and not needing to be brave today
Sebastian's tumor has been stable since chemotherapy ended in 2017
but the two weeks waiting for scan results is always nerve-wracking
It's quite a nervous time at the moment
It never phases him, it's always
and we try not to let that show so
as far as he's concerned he comes to hospital every six months
he gets to play with toys and the doctors make a great fuss of him
We see some pictures and then we go home
and that's it for another six months
So fingers crossed that'll be the same today
Paediatric oncologist Dr Herd
Seb, do you want to come through?
is going to talk Sebastian and his dad
through the results of the latest scan
Can we take that hat off yet?
No?
It's a very cool hat, take a seat
The cameras step back to give them privacy
The consultation is over and Sebastian and Dad emerge with news
When you're in there
it can be kind of a blur
you're getting a lot of information
and you're hearing a lot
and all you're listening out for is
everything's stable
and after you hear that
it's kind of like, okay
A big wall of clouds disappear
and you can see the next six months
We'll get home and he'll think of questions he's not asked
and he'll say can I see my pictures Daddy
and we'll show him
he's quite curious about what his insides look like
With the all clear for another six months
Sebastian now has more important things on his mind