The MRI Experience

Ok...it now has been more than 4 months since I fractured the ankle. I can walk, though I limp.  At times, the foot would swell and look 'elephantly', and at night, the aches can still be unbearable....But I am not complaining. The fall has taught me to appreciate the importance of my legs; and how they keep me mobile and upright.

But since the recovery has been super-slow, the good doctors (so good that a wait for a consultation at CGH can be as long as 3 hours!) had wondered what could possibly go wrong. After all, the X-ray has shown that the bone has healed. The young doc I saw had poked at the area, asked if it hurt, and promptly stated," I cannot understand. The foot is swelling. The bone is ok."

(Sorry,doc. I don't mean to insult you...but the loooooooooong wait had made me rather intolerant of such bedside diagnosis. After all, you were the one who went to medical school...I don't understand either)

Since X-rays can only pick up scans of bones, I was told to get an MRI done.
(please people out there....please buy medical insurance...medical bills can be soooooooooooo hurting on the pockets)....and I had to do it during this fasting month.

For those who never had an MRI done, let me share this with you.
First, it is done in the deepest denizen of the hospital (oh...the lowest level houses the morgue)...and the temperature there is nothing is comparable to the icy blasts of the North Pole.  You besides shaking with fear, you'll probably find your speech incomprehensible cos your teeth are chattering non-stop.

The young radiologist (see...they keep getting younger) asked me if I had any metal implants...for they apparently will affect the radiation...I cracked my brain, and said I had titanium implant in my teeth...but after frowning for an eternity or two (brrrr....I was that cold!), he said it would not matter since I was not going to have my head scanned.

I was told to get on the machine, and thankfully, they strapped on me one of the most comforting heated thermal blankets in the world (hey...may I know where I can buy one?). The radiologist gave me STRICT ORDERS not to move. They then placed a pair of headphones over my ears, and it was blasting a song by Jay Chou...(how I knew, don't ask.....)Oh, I was also given a rubber pump which apparently I could squeeze if I wanted to communicate with the radiologists outside the room.

Now, how do I describe what happened next....the room went all dark, and the great white shark...er machine came cranking to life...oh...they switched music, and the sounds from Glee came shrieking into my eyes. I felt as though I was slowing being swallowed into that ....that....that hole.

I suffer from an acute case of claustrophobia. Lets compound that with an active imagination.  So the MRI machine transformed from the Great White Shark to a burning funeral pyre within seconds...and I imagined myself in a coffin about to be disintegrated by the licking flames....the sheer terror of it all! I wondered if I would even be able to fit into the hole as my body inched further and further in.

I think I must have screamed....as loudly as I could inside my head.  I was so tempted to press the pump to stop tell them to stop the madness. Yes, the rational side of my head kept telling me not to move....Concentrate....concentrate...don't look...don't look....close your eyes...let the music take over.

Music....music....music...
I know...lets stand up and dance....Nope, I am 3/4 way through...If my head goes in, ....breathe....breathe...music...dance....darkness....jaws.....(you get the drift)

Thank god my whole head need not go in. It stopped short at my neck where I could see the blinking counter lights....25 minutes.....lap counter....The machine jerked and my heart stopped. Don't eat me! don't eat me!

I think those were the longest 30 minutes of my life.
The lights came on, the monster machine fell silent.  My radiologists hurried into the room.  "Are you ok? You were so still...we were worried."

Hello? Still?...did you not tell me NOT TO MOVE?

Anyway, I am still waiting for the results of the MRI. My foot is considerably better, thanks to the massage and herbs I have been taking.
And oh....I did ask Zarifah, who also had an MRI previously done. She went for a brain scan and of course, was thoroughly inside the machine. When questioned if she was afraid, this is her answer.
"No....I fell asleep."

Sigh...it's just me.