One down, a few more to go.

 As scans go I think this one was the most uncomfortable. MRI's as a general rule are noisy as a construction site and they give you foam ear plugs and a headset to 'listen to music'. Let me tell you...... not helpful at all.

Luckily my vertigo is all but dissipated by now so the prone position on my stomach wasn't an issue for that. Just had to stand up slow and not like a spring loaded jack in the box. The IV port for the contrast wasn't as bad as the ER but not as smooth as the previous IV for the PET. I am thankful my veins are still in good working condition to save more pain and frustration. 

The amount of noise that the machine makes completely cancelled out the 'meditation' music I had requested. So there I was, with my face in a vaguely padded cradle and my boobs hanging into two areas just for them but the plastic edge kind of dug into my rib cage and the padding was not sufficient for my forehead after about fifteen minutes. What is kind of laughable is you're laying there with your eyes closed, no way of telling time and they say, 'okay starting the contrast so another sixteen minutes or so'. My smart ass brain tried to respond but told her 'never mind' and I saved it for when we were done. 'Time is irrelevant when your eyes are closed'. She said well, we like to let people know just so they don't worry.

I guess there are much more anxious people that get scans and I suppose it helps but they might as well have just said 'a bit longer now almost done' and it would have been just as good. She also said that when the contrast goes in I have to lie completely still. Like I wasn't before? What choice do I have? They give you a bulb thing to squeeze if you have 'an emergency' so they can hit the cut off switch. But again, there are people out there that likely have severe claustrophobia that would have problems. I did have a nanosecond of a worry in case I forgot something that may have been metal in my body, like fillings and stuff (fillings obviously are not magnetic).

So that's all done and next appointment is June 3 with Radiation Oncology doctor Croix Fossum. Fascinating name and that will be over at Grossmont. You may wonder why I'm being so specific writing all this down and it is for future reference. I told someone, nurse or coordinator or someone that I kept a blog journal online last time and she was impressed because most of the time the only records they have are what they've done and noted down and have to rely on the memory of the patient. So I was able to go back through my entries and give her a better approximation of dates and my reactions. Now they have all the clinical records of what doctors and when and all that. The point is that as a patient, I was keeping my own records of sorts to keep things straight in my head.

This is also for my kids and family to look at and see what was going through my head. Lord willing and the creek don't rise, I'll make it through this time as well. There is a niggling doubt that this is my sunset time and am preparing for that.