Thursday, May 28, 2009

70 Minute MRI

A lot happened today that I have not processed yet, so instead I am gonna tell you about yesterday.

Lou woke me up at 7:00 AM so we would have time to watch the last episode of season 7 of Stargate SG-1, which would kill the disc so I could send it back to Netflix. Turns out, the last epsiode of season 7 (The Lost City) is two hours long! We had to quit halfway through so I could make my 9:30 AM meeting. Imagine letting work get in the way of Stargate.

My back bothered me all day, but I got really involved trying to figure out how to revise this one chapter that has apparently been confusing a customer... and at one point I realized that an hour had flown by without me even thinking about my back. Awesome. Who knew work could be therapeutic?

I could not eat or drink anything after 1:45 PM, so I set up an Outlook reminder at 1:30 and had a cookie and a cup of tea and a bottle of water.

At 5:00 PM, I curled up on the floor under my desk and tried to relax my back. I had forgotten to take more Advil and Tylenol before 1:45 PM and was suffering the consequences. Lou called me at 6:05 PM to wake me up because I was afraid I would fall asleep and miss the darned appointment.

The hospital seemed pretty empty and quiet when I arrived at 7:30 PM.

I'll skip ahead to getting loaded into the machine. The MRI person put headphones on me and explained that I needed them so that she could talk to me when I was in the machine. She loaded me into the machine with one arm straight back over my head (so I would fit more comfortably) and tucked a comfy pillow under my knees. I also had my legs crossed at the ankle which was very comfortable -- for awhile.

I got inserted into the machine, which was a slightly tight fit but okay. Like a big hug! Then the machine started clanking and hooting and banging and I did not hear anything on the headphones for a long time. I started to wonder, what if the headphones weren't working? Maybe she was talking to me but I couldn't hear her. Or worse, maybe she had keeled over dead from a heart attack and I was stuck in this machine with no one at the controls...

Clearly I needed to stop that line of thought.

Instead I started thinking about the black and pink fabric I bought for that skirt I am going to be sewing. Gosh darn it next time I am buying a pattern with pockets.

Anyway, after about a million years, she finally came over the headphones and told me to hold my breath. There was a lot more clanging and honking and vibration and then she said I could breathe again. That happened a bunch of times. It seemed to go on forever. My ankles started to ache, but I was afraid to uncross them in case that messed something up. And my shoulder really started to ache. I had this ball in my hand which I was supposed to squeeze if I needed help but I didn't want to be a wimp.

Then she came on the headphones and apologized for how long it was taking. But she didn't tell me how much longer. I really wished she had. So I started composing a polite yet pointed little speech about how she could improve her customer service. (I knew I would never say it out loud but it was fun anyway.)

Finally my shoulder was so on fire, I had to squeeze the ball to call for help because I couldn't take it anymore. She answered right away and said there were just two minutes more. So I counted! I must count slow because I was only at 65 seconds when she pulled me out.

She said I had been in there for an hour and ten minutes! Yikes!

As I got dressed, I gobbled the granola bar and bottle of water I had in my pocketbook. Then I was free! Not much traffic on the road. The whole ride home I was thinking about how I would be coming back first thing tomorrow morning for all the doctor appointments. When I got home, I got a big hug from Lou.

6 comments:

Drake said...

OMG Karen..I would not have lasted in the machine for 10 minutes. I loved your description of the experience...made me laugh! Thanks!

Anonymous said...

So good to read your post. But it made me hurt for you and brought back memories of my MRI several years ago. They told me how many minutes and I swear I did "one mississippi, two mississippi", etc.) for the entire time. I just felt more in control knowing how much longer the darned thing was going to take.

You hang in there, and have Lou give you another big hug from me. You can never have enough of those things! Love, Carol Q.

Anonymous said...

OMG, Can you imagine me trying to be still for 70 minutes, the way I fidget...
I'll be sending positive thoughts your way tomorrow.
Say good-bye to Patsy and Omer for me and I hope they have a safe trip home.
Keeping you in my T's & P's.

Unknown said...

Did one of those last week (no answers) but I totally relate!!!
Humans are not meant for tubes - lol! We are thinking about you - tomorrow is birthday nite - I miss having you here!

Love and hugs,
susan (dick too)

Unknown said...

Your imaginings about the MRI tech made me think that you should write a book--oh yeah, you already did!
Love ya,
Mom

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