The last test the doctors wanted to see was a Functional MRI (fMRI). You may have seen this images of the brain, where areas are brightly lit, indicating which parts were active while the patient was thinking or doing some particular task.

Our first attempt at the test didn’t work out. The hospital was full, we waited all day, and finally at 5pm Rachel got in the machine, only to find out that the “Functional” part wasn’t working. It made my mother wonder what the “f” really stood for.

But the staff was really nice, as always. They apologized profusely, gave us gift certificates to the cafe and shop, and kept us informed over the next week as the machine got fixed. Finally Rachel was able to complete the scan, and it was verified that her language capabilities are firmly settled on the left (non-surgical) side of her brain.