MRI Fun

I had to have my annual MRI today, I hate it. No real reason to hate it other than it will tell me if I have cancer again. Makes me a little gun shy, don't really want to know the results. I mean I do, but I really don't. I am thinking positive, mostly, but in reality the day I have this MRI done, I don't think that positively.

Got to the check in and there were at least 100 people there. Maybe this is normal for some of you, but this is not normal for my experience at the Memorial Hospital on Johnson. No, they had a new system that they installed on May 1st. Saturday morning at 8am, they called me for a pre-registration setup. They woke my up on one of about 5 Saturdays a year that I don't have to be up for anything and they asked me to preregister for my MRI on Monday. I told the lady in my really sweet "you just woke me up on a Saturday" voice that I had just had an MRI not two weeks ago and NONE of my information had changed. Ok, but we still need to update it. So I twilighted my way through that conversation and figured I was ready to go.

It didn't really matter to me that they were running 2 hrs behind at the hospital EXCEPT I had already taken the valium that I get to take and I was ready to go. I told then when I got there that I had preregistered at 8am on Saturday, so I should be good to go. Oh yes, usually that is the case, today however, since they were installing new software they didn't have the ability to access that information and I would need to be registered again. My valium brain was cool with it and I just sat down. But I did acknowledge back somewhere in the back of the completely valiumed-out out mind that it was exceptionally annoying that this woman insisted on talking to me at 8am on a Saturday and the effects of my valium might not last as long as needed.

FINALLY, I got back to the MRI room and we were just about to get started and I started panicking. It was so uncomfortable. You lie face down with each boob in a separate area and you arms are above you. They you are backed into the MRI machine for an hour. AN HOUR. Seriously freaking out, wanted to leave.

Enters Prince Charming with another valium. Somewhere in my valiumed-out out mind I had forgotten that I had TWO pills and my awesome husband put the other one in his pocket. I swallowed and away I went for an hour. Typical of a hospital, they wake me up to tell me I have 15 more minutes of the MRI.....why can't they just let you sleep? I spent the next 15 minutes wondering how long I had until I could move my right arm and remove the painful numbness that had occurred during the last 45 minutes of peaceful sleep. Then it was over. Just like that.....and just like that......they will call me in 48 hours and tell me "it's all good" or "make an appointment".