V's Version

MRI Sound Collage: After locking my head into this bad baby they slid me into the machine. I had to close my eyes because I was unable to lubricate with saline-on-demand as I usually do. Keeping the air off my prosthetics (eyes) meant that I could go longer without the lab techs stopping the scan to let me move. It also meant that I experienced the scan mostly blind - which is to say that I felt it and I heard it and made pictures in my head.

A washing machine off kilter: daah duh daah duh daah duh

Then add some of Kim's Native American drummers (except that these drummers were kind of random) : dunk-dunk.....dunk- dunk -dunk......dunk-dunk

Add the woooosh woooosh woooosh of a baby's heartbeat to the background

Then add the high pitch sound of the electric neon coil in Dr. Frankenstein's laboratory: daah duh daah duh daah duh
dunk-dunk.....dunk- dunk -dunk......dunk-dunk
booo-weeeeeeeeeeee

And a crescendo of jackhammers exploded right next to my head: teh-teh-teh-teh-teh-teh-teh-teh-teh-
for what seemed like a very long concert.

Oh yeah. It was kind of like a machine laughing at me:"So you thought you had a headache before you got here?! Bwa-ha-ha-ha! I'll show you headache!" The vice grip around my temples was a nice added bonus to really feeeel the pulse.

And speaking of feeling - all of those sounds came with rhythmic vibrations that were felt by my entire body. It was - ? how shall I put it? stimulating.

The stimulation might have had something to do with the fact that I had to hold the bottle of saline in the easiest place I could without use of my hands (which were at my sides - one holding the little bulb that was my emergency get-me-out-of-here button). After I lay down on the stretcher-type thing, I chose to place the bottle on my dress - which is to say in the triangle of my legs and belly - which is to say between my legs.

The stimulation might have had something to do with the very strong imagination that I have. In order to remain VERY STILL during the scan, I imagined that I was in a scene and this was the newest fun piece of equipment and Dani was requesting that I be VERY STILL until it was over (at which time I was promised rewards - NVC be damned.) I mentioned in passing the thought that the MRI machine belonged in a dungeon in San Jose to the lab tech who is a Christian surfer dude and if he understood me, he didn't say.

When telling Dani about it later, she said "You can make anything fun."

(Digression: I enjoyed that Dani can appreciate this strength in me. But what she said the other morning is even better. I asked: "Honey? Do I scare you?" and she replied without hesitation: "No. Not at all. It's like living with a tiger.")

So the results of the MRI will be ? next week I bet. I'm getting kind of used to this brand of pain although it wears on me sometimes.

Today I thought of (and prayed for) Jo P. in the hospital for her kidneys and Kathleen B. in the hospital after a scare and Dani's Aunt Jackie in the hospital after a fall and Claire from church in the hospital with a broken hip and no word on Joe L. who is due for heart surgery. I'm just so incredibly grateful to be at home - no hospital necessary! Pk stayed home sick from school and we had a blast. Dani and I stay connected through IM and internet and cell while she is in SF for work. I am a lucky, lucky woman and I do not ever forget it.
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Labels: MRI hospitals gratitude funny brain scan head coil