MRI Day

Today was the day of my MRI.  It was the first thing this morning and Eric was kind enough to go with me even though he would just be sitting in the waiting room the whole time.  I felt bad that he was just sitting there, but I was happy to have him there as support. 

We checked in and then a nurse called my name and started us on our maze walk through the hospital.  As we were making our way to our destination, we passed a door marked, "Mother Baby Rooms."  I pointed the door out to Eric.  I thought, "Wow, less than a year and a half ago I was in one of those rooms with J, and now look at where I'm walking."  It was sad, but I guess you just never know where God and life will take you. 

We got to the MRI unit and I was told to undress and take off all my jewelry and put on scrub pants and the gown that opens in the front.  Let me take a moment to talk about these gowns.  I've worn four now in the last month and I'm already tired of them.  Obviously they need to open in the front in order for doctors to have easy access to examine my breasts.  However, the gowns are MASSIVE!  I am always swimming in them and even though it ties on the side, it's still a good foot away from my body if I were to hold it out.  So when I get up I'm grabbing it on the sides with my hand for fear I'm going to flash the entire waiting room.  I hate those gowns. 

H-O-T, HOT!

 



I got called back and the tech put an IV in my arm because we were going to do a contrast to make any abnormalities more visible.  He told me to stay relaxed and have even breathing because if I were to breathe too heavily, my chest would move causing it to ruin the pictures and I would have to reschedule and do it all over again.  Eeesh...noted. 

I thought laying still for 30 minutes would be no big deal.  Plus, I was really tired so I figured I could maybe take a nap!  Wrong.  I had to lay on my stomach with my breasts hanging below me on the table, and my head was cradled in a head rest, similar to a massage table.  They gave me ear plugs because the machine creates a loud banging noise all around you.  They also gave me a squeeze ball to hold in my left hand should I feel there was an emergency and something didn't feel right and I could squeeze that to signal them to stop.  They hooked the IV up for the contrast and wrapped the tubing around my right thumb. 

Then they asked if I was comfortable.  No, not completely, but I thought I could deal with it.  Then they said, "Are you sure?  You can't move at all for 30 minutes, so now's the time to speak up.  Don't worry, you're not being high maintenance if do."  So I conceded and asked them to add another pillow under my feet.  We were up and ready to go.

As the table backed in to the large tunnel, I suddenly remembered I was claustrophobic and quickly shut my eyes as if I were a 3 year old telling myself this wasn't actually happening, and if I just close my eyes then it wasn't actually happening.  Those 30 minutes were tough.  Mainly because a lot of pressure was going to my face and that was hurting, plus I was getting obsessive about my breathing and hoping I was doing it right so I wouldn't ruin the pictures.  I did not want to do this all again.  The only technique that really helped to calm me was to pray.  I prayed a lot.  I couldn't tell you how many Our Fathers and Hail Mary's I did. 

After it was all over, my arms were very much asleep and so was my face.  I didn't know that was possible.  I felt a little weak, but overall it wasn't too bad.  I think the most difficult part was controlling and monitoring my breathing while laying on my stomach.  Out the IV came and I was off on my merry way to see Eric and change back into some clothes that I wasn't swimming in. 

I get the results of the MRI on Monday, so hopefully this weekend is a nice, relaxing one to take away from the stress of waiting.  Onward and forward!