MRI

As promised, I would let people know how my MRI went. No results yet, it'll be a couple weeks I think. But I thought I would talk about the experience. Because I can. Haha no, actually because when I knew I was going for one I had no idea what to expect and was asking around. Not many people seemed to be able to tell me what it was like. So if anyone was wondering...

The reason I got it done was my shoulders. As you know they have not really been improving still and we are checking out all possibilities. X-rays showed nothing major and even though an MRI will likely only tell us what we already know about the surrounding tissue and stuff, it seemed like a reasonable next step. It may help rule out stuff as well. Anyways, there was no reason to really be concerned, it was just a bit intimidating because I have never done this before.

Leading up to an MRI you are not allowed to eat for four hours. For the average person this probably isn't a big deal, but I am not the average person and was more worried about this than anything else! I eat about every two hours. Haha but it wasn't actually that bad. Anyways, I got in a bit early which was nice. The woman doing it confused me though. She asked if I had ever done this before. Nope. Then she asked what I was getting it for. Um, shouldn't she know that...? I said it said on the sheet scan of chest but that I had shoulder issues and it was supposed to be scapular thoracic area, which is apparently the same for this. She didn't say much to this which made me a bit nervous. Weird.

So I was kinda strapped down to the table thing which is then slid into the big tube thing. I know, great medical descriptions right? They covered my eyes with a cloth but I could see out the bottom which made me feel better because at least I kind of knew where I was. Maybe for some people it's better not to? Anyways I could kinda see and feel my surroundings and could tell it was a pretty small space. On either side of me with my thumbs touching my legs I could stretch out my fingers a little bit and the sides were right there. I don't understand how a large person could fit in there. No wonder they check to see if you're claustrophobic. That would suck.

It takes about 20 minutes and you have to lie still the whole time. Kind of difficult of you are a fidgeter. And I wasn't supposed to breath deeply and stuff cause it was a scan of the chest and I shouldn't move much. Oh well, tried my best. It's also really loud. I was given earplugs and told it sounds like a jackhammer. Maybe it's not always the same depending on what type you get, but there were many different sounds. All loud and annoying, of course. Sometimes it was like two alternating alarm clocks. Sometimes like knocking on a door really fast and loud. Sometimes like a jackhammer I guess. Sometimes just a loud buzzing. And it would randomly go quiet for a bit. Oh and the table moves sometimes. It was kinda boring really. The excitement came when the sounds changed. Just kidding. I lay there thinking about how I could make a blog about it. When it was finally quiet the woman came back to tell me they were just going to check if it was good and I had to wait a bit longer. Good thing I could see a bit or else I would have been really freaked out when she grabbed my leg to get my attention.

So yeah, in conclusion if you have never had and MRI I can tell you that it is not really scary. Just a bit weird. And slightly inconvenient if you eat often.