So my check in was pretty straight forward. I went into the waiting room after checking in. The tech came to get me and brought me to a changing room. She explained how I would undress and get dressed for the MRI. She then asked me to explain my medical situation so that she could plan how best to do the scan. After we got that done, I got into some scrub bottoms and that dreaded hospital robe that is open in the back. She moved me over to a private area and put me on a bed while she confirmed my profile information. Then she put my IV in. She explained that I would be doing my MRI with and without contrast.
She asked me if I was pregnant or nursing. She said I needed to pump and dump for 24 hours. That's another whole long story , but I explained to her that I couldn't pump and dump because I don't respond to the pump. She promised to talk to the radiologist to see what options I had. She got my IV in easily - YES!!! That almost never happens! As she was doing it - I was looking at my arms and they are starting to have that haggard look they got during IVF when I was having blood drawn daily.
So they had me walk into the MRI room, and I got my first look at it. Now I'm not a claustrophobic person, but that machine does look intimidating. They got me to lay down on the table and got started setting me up. They stuck that wedge under my knees, connected me to the IV machine, put a bulb in my hand, put ear plugs in my ears and put headphones on my ears. They let me choose what radio station I wanted to listed to. We had some random banter about how gorgeous Alex Skaarsgard ( aka Eric from True Blood) is. The tech reminded me that if I needed to stop the process, the bulb in my hand was an emergency shut off.
Then I relaxed and they started sliding me into the machine. I had my eyes open - and I honestly wondered why I chose to do so. I'm not claustrophobic but I felt a twinge of anxiety as they slid me into the machine. My nose was just a few tiny inches from the tube. I heard the tech over the headphones tell me they were going to start. As I laid there, the digital clanking sound began. It really is loud and it is repetitive. It actually gets pretty annoying after a while. I kept trying to focus on the music but it simply wasn't loud enough to drown out the machine. As I was lying in there - I realized I was losing any sense of time in there.
After some time, the tech told me it was time to start the breathing portions of the scan. She would have me take a deep breath, exhale, and then hold my empty lungs still until she told me to breathe again. We did that about 10 times. Finally - she told me - it's time for part two of the scan. They would be turning on the contrast dye in my IV. She reminded me that my arm might feel a bit cold and I may get a strange taste in my mouth. I barely felt the fluid going in, but all of a sudden I felt like I had dipped my tongue in a bottle of perfume. For an instant I wondered if I was going to taste that for the rest of the scan - but it wore off.
So back to the clanking and waiting Funny thing, if you lay still for long enough, it's like your body locks into that position. I felt heavy. My arms and legs were heavy and it started to feel impossible to move. It was very easy to stay dead still. Finally I heard the tech on the headphones say it was over. She came over and started unhooking me from the IV. I asked her the dreaded question, "Did you see anything extra in there?" Her response was, "They train us to have a poker face - we can't say anything. Your doctor will have to follow up." Of course I knew she wouldn't tell me, but I couldn't resist telling her. The rest of my visit was pretty straight forward. I went back to my locker, got my clothes, got dressed and headed out to meet my husband for lunch.
It is kind of hard not to think about this stuff. Yes I'm in a good mood, and I at least don't feel sickly. Yet I am just dying to find out if I am sick or not. Now all that's left is to wait for a call from my oncologist to see what he thinks of my results. Fingers crossed..... I can't believe it's been since April that I've been dealing with this. I'm so ready to get some definitive answer about whether I need to gear up for battle or not!
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