Another Test

KimR5413

At this point, I wasn’t sure how to feel about all the tests and the many offices I had been to. An MRI is an easy test for me though. I remembered having one a long time ago. 

Inside the MRI machine I had to be very still. With the week I’d had, I thought I could do that. I just hoped I didn’t snore!

MRIs are so much easier for me than mammograms! An MRI is magnetic resonance imaging, which is non-invasive compared to other procedures. It’s a powerful tool and even better than a mammogram at detecting tumors and early stages of breast cancer. 

First, they gave me a dye that, when injected, makes you feel like you have to pee. Really bad. It makes those same parts VERY warm. They’d warned me of this, but it still made me giggle like a 12-year-old.

J came with me for this one, so they let him in the room. Of course, not before asking if he had a metal plate in his head. That made us both laugh. He may seem like he does at times, but no. They did, however, get very serious when he said he’d once had metal in his eye. She stopped him dead in his tracks. Apparently, that causes some danger. The MRI uses VERY strong magnets. I could just see his eye flying out of his head and across the room, then splatting on the side of the machine like a cartoon reel. Again, giggling like a 12-year-old. This is especially funny to me because he can’t even watch someone put in a contact lens. 

Now, on to the test. I was half undressed, AGAIN and lying down, face down on a rolling pad. The really fun part is that the pad had holes in it; two of them, just big enough for…you guessed it: Your boobs. So, I got lined up, then the nurse came in to “adjust” the girls. While this might sound like fun, I believe there is a law written somewhere that all medical professionals are required to soak their hands in an ice bath before touching you. 

And remember that part where the dye makes you feel like you have to pee?

After some fondling, moving, and adjusting, I was all set. Now I was going to be inserted into a tube where I was barely allowed to breathe. I was not allowed to take a deep breath or sigh. J was able to hold my hand and I could see him in a mirror strategically placed under the table. I was instructed to say something if I had to cough or sneeze. There were going to be several segments of imaging and one of them was so sensitive that if I moved, we would just have to start over. Luckily, I made it through the entire 45 minutes to an hour with no movement or twitching. Whew! Too bad I couldn’t sleep through it. I suppose snoring could be considered deep breathing.

Lesson: Bring someone with you who you can laugh at… Er…with.