The next day, Saturday, October 6th, I had an MRI scheduled. They wanted to scan and make sure there wasn’t something else that the mammogram had missed and they wanted to check the location again. I had never had an MRI before and, again, I had no idea what to expect. My mom went with me while my husband and girls stayed home. I checked in at the hospital where the MRI station was. They walked me back to another area where I checked in again. They showed me down the hall and into an area where I would change. I wore scrubs for the first time. I would have loved to take those home. They were the most comfortable clothes I have ever worn. They showed me to a small room filled with medical supplies. I sat in a chair in my awesome scrubs and waited for another person. She came in and gave me an IV that they would use to inject me with dye later. I had some cough drops with me to reduce my incessant coughing so I sucked on them and let my eyes wander around the room. There were different sized needles, gloves, plastic bins with labels, and much more. I usually use these waiting sessions to check my vision. I try to read small things from across the room to see if I still have amazing vision. Unfortunately, my phonics skills are impeccably good from teaching young children that I can figure out a word from only a few letters, so I’m not really testing my vision. I’m testing my ability to decode words in a sentence. I still do it, its an interesting way to pass the time. I was very tired and would have loved to lie down and go to sleep. It felt like I waited in that room forever. When they finally finished with the person ahead of me, they rescued me from my boredom.
It was my turn. They took me to a large room where I took my shoes off. They showed me to the bed of the machine where I would lay on my stomach with my head in a concave support similar to what they have on massage tables although I knew this wouldn’t be as nice as that. When I opened my eyes there was a reflecting glass in front of me so I could see the technicians in the other room through the window. My breasts were nestled into concave grooves so that they could get a good picture. The ladies explained that I would hear a humming noise from the MRI machine and a ticking noise. I needed to lie very still and breathe normally. Don’t forget, I have been sick. My lack of voice had resulted in the hacking cough that often concludes my illnesses. I had to lie there for 45 minutes and not cough. Fortunately, I was on my stomach, if I had been on my back it would have been a much more difficult task. The lady informed me that if I move during the session, everything would be ruined and I would have to come back another day to do it again. Now that I was thoroughly terrified of ruining the test, I was sure to not cough.
The ladies left me to hide behind the safety of the thick door and the window while I lay on my stomach waiting for the machine to start. Fortunately, this bed wasn’t as uncomfortable as the biopsy table. The bed slid back into the MRI machine. I’ve heard horror stories about MRIs and how people feel claustrophobic. I might have had that sense if I could have seen. My eyes could only see the little window below my eyes so the knowledge of how much space was above my head was not for me to know. The machine made its noise. I had earplugs in so I don’t really know how loud it was. I laid very still. I didn’t cough. The machine worked its magic for about 30 minutes. I laid still and didn’t cough. Every once in a while there was a pause as the machine adjusted and the technician told me I could cough if I needed to. It was nice to know there were breaks, but I did ok. It finally came time for the dye. They began injecting the dye into my body through the IV. The machine spent another 15 minutes taking pictures. The machine watched the dye move through me. Then it was over. The bed moved out from the machine. The technician came to help me get up. I sat on the bed for a second to regain my balance. During the different photography sessions the ladies would come in to adjust something. I got very familiar with their shoes. I could see the ladies talking behind the glass. They could have been talking small talk or talking about me. I didn’t know. I didn’t feel well and all these new experiences were not what I thought I would be doing this fall. It never mattered to me that many people go through these things. I hadn’t gone through them before and I hadn’t planned on going through them either.
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