This Thursday, Februry 4, I'm having an MRI at Chester County Hospital, Fern Hill Annex at 9:00 or so in the morning.
The area to be scanned is my head and neck -- site of the primary tumor. (The X-ray I had the other week was of the lung area only -- to make sure that the cancer had not metasticized to there. This MRI is to assure that the primary tumor has not reappeared.)
There is, as you might imagine, some anxiety connected to this: the area to be scanned hasn't been examined in this fashion since, maybe, October. The physical probing and visual exams done by several of my docs has been reassuring, but the scan will look deeper. And with a cancer as incompletely documented as this one, who knows where it might show up again?
The nice lady who scheduled me for the procedure had a series of questions, including "Do you have any metal parts in your skull other than dental fillings?" (The "M" in "MRI" does stand for "Magnetic" after all...)
And one of the other questions was, "Are you claustrophobic?" Which is a perfectly sensible question, since I know they will be putting my head in a cage sort of structure and then slide me into a huge doughnut-shaped contrivance which makes dreadful noises for 20 minutes or so. And thinking about this reminded me of the wonderful experience I had last summer at Johns Hopkins, where I was in a similar machine and had an anxiety attack. (I blogged about this, but don't have the time at the moment to find it.)
They slid me out of the machine, calmed me down, then slid me back in. And I thought of all the people who wanted me to lay still. Which enabled me to do just that. ("Diane wants me to lie still." "Hal wants me to lie still." and so on...)
So I'm asking you, please, for your thoughts and prayers this Thursday. That the scan will come out as clean as all the other scans have done. I believe very deeply that this will help things to come to a successful conclusion.
And I will, of course, let everyone know how things turn out. Probably the following Monday.
Thank you for being here. Thank you for all the caring you've given me.
Thank you for your love -- and please know that it is returned to you completely.
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Sue wants you to lie still and breath deeply. Stay calm.
ReplyDeleteI have a suggestion, although it assumes that alcohol does not affect the imaging process. :-)
ReplyDeleteRon
ADVICE #1 DO NOT OPEN YOUR EYES!! FOR NO REASON SHOULD YOU OPEN YOUR EYES.NO PEEKING FOR ANY REASON
ReplyDeleteADVICE # 2 KEEP BREATHING- WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT STOP BREATHING
IF YOU FOLLOW THESE SIMPLE STEPS- YOU WILL SURVIVE YOUR MRI JUST FINE
Bonus advice- the noise has a certain soothing arhythmic rhythm to it kind of like sleeping on a train all safe and cozy as you go to a fun vacation place
oops, that was me, Ellen
ReplyDeleteYou're last MRI took you from "I can't do it" to "I did it." Tucked within your memory somewhere is the knowledge that you had the strength to handle it last time, so I would give good odds that you can do it again. Good luck and, by the way, I want you to lie still too.
ReplyDeleteHi Randy,
ReplyDeleteI am with you in thoughts and prayers and I will especially be "with" you on Thursday morning, wanting you to lie still and to receive excellent results!
Love and Light,
Diane