MRI

Well, it turns out I AM claustrophobic!!! (roll eyes) *blush* Let's just say that the MRI machines on TV are much bigger than in real life!!!! I was feeling okay at first and I laid down on the movable bed and she was telling me how it is hollow and how it opens at the end, and she starts to move the bed in a bit. I closed my eyes (she said there would be a light there) and then opened them when we stopped so she could adjust me so that my spine was aligned. She stuffed some pieces beside my head to keep it still and even put a blanket over my legs and tucked me in! :) Everything was fine; it didn't look too bad for room at this point. Then she started to move the bed in further, so I was in up to my shoulders. I opened my eyes and MY GOODNESS!!!! It was no longer "cozy" at all!!! The ceiling is literally a few inches from your head!!! I started to feel a *bit* nervous and asked, "can I come out?" It's a good thing that this girl was understanding b/c if she didn't move that bed back I don't know how well I would've taken it!!! I honestly did not think I could do the test! And I kept thinking, dang! If I knew it was THIS bad I would've said yes to being claustrophobic and I could've had a sedative!!! lol But you needed to come half an hour earlier for that! grrr. So I had to think: am I taking this test or not? Can I do it? I do NOT like giving up, but I'm also wise enough to know when it's time to step away. I decided to try again. May (the young woman setting everything up) gave me some water and let me relax and breathe, then I laid down and she covered my eyes with a cloth (which I thought would make it worse!) and we started the process again. I kept my eyes closed and she slowly moved me in, stopping several times to ask how I was doing. I was fine. Really. I could do this! Then she went to the other room to start the machine and such, but she would talk to me through a mic and I'd respond through the one in the machine. (While it's running though, it's too loud, so she can't hear me, but that's why I was given a panic button in my hand!!!) I did peek a few times out of my cloth and could see the lights on the (very close) ceiling, but I wasn't freaked out this time. I was trying my very hardest to remain calm!

What got me through it was trying to pray and trying not to let my mind wander to scary thoughts. (suddenly all you want to think about it being trapped in an elevator, or being buried alive, or getting stuck in a cave!) I also had this song running through my head that was on the radio on the way in. I can't recall the name or who it's by, but it goes, "I love you more than the sun, and the stars that I taught how to shine, you are mine, and you shine for me too. I love you, yesterday, and today, and tomorrow. I'll say it again and again, I love you more." (edited to add: the song is called More by Matthew West) I also decided on a course of action if, by chance, I DID get stuck in there!  I figured that I could easily kick out that sponge from my under my knees and scootch my bum slowly until I got to the end!  *wink*

May did frighten me a bit 15 minutes into it though (it's appx. a 40 minute procedure) when she said, "ok, it's going to be quiet now while I set up for the next part." And she was right! It WAS quiet. Too quiet. She may have only taken 2 minutes, but man, it sure felt like 10! And I was laying there in silence, in a box, feeling a *bit* claustrophobic again! I called out, with a hint of fear in my voice, "May?" She immediately pipes up, "Yes? Are you okay?" in the speaker. Oh phew! Such relief to hear her again! She didn't leave the building or anything! "How much longer?" We started up again within 2 minutes, and I was fine!

The machine IS loud (they give you ear plugs…no radio like my hunny got for his knee MRI, though!) but it wasn't too bad. It sounded kind of neat. It actually was the silence between each set that made it difficult for me! See, the machine was taking pictures of my whole spine and SI joints, and it would go and whir and make loud clinking noises as it did that, but b/c it had a lot of pictures to do it would run for 4-6 minutes for each set. So May would tell me, "okay, the bed is going to move, then it will be noisey again for 6 minutes", then it would go quiet after and she'd input info or Whatever she was doing, lol, then tell me that again. The 40-mintue procedure was a LOT easier to handle when it was broken down like that for me. I liked being able to focus on, "okay, just 3 more minutes,… Okay, this isn't too long, just another minute or two…" although, six minutes can sure feel terribly long when you can't move and you're starting to get uncomfy!

So I survived! Long story short. (or as short as is possible for me! lol) Another thing I didn't anticipate was how sore I'd be. My lower back started to ache and pinch, and I was in pain by that night. I"m not too sure if it was from the test or laying so long on a table or what, but it wasn't nice. The pain still hasn't left, 3 days later though. :( Of course, I am out of my Naproxin pills, grr, which doesn't help. It's funny though b/c I am convinced the naproxin doesn't work b/c I'm still achey, but when I don't have them to take I am in a lot more discomfort! Phooey. I'm taking Tylenol with codeine, not that that's helping, but I'm hoping that maybe one time it will! I see my rheumatologist next week for the results (and another script for NSAIDS!)

*phew* There's the story!