Get Me Out Of This Thing
Posted by Melissa Carter at 3/10/2009 9:25 AM 
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: gay Melissa Bert Show Bert Show Q100 MRI scan MRI brain lesbian MRI
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: gay Melissa Bert Show Bert Show Q100 MRI scan MRI brain lesbian MRI
That's what I told Todd exactly 3 minutes after he told me it would be 3 minutes until the test was over. I was responding to his comment through the tiny speaker that he needed to check the negatives before coming back into my room.
"Can you get me out of this thing?"
I've heard of people not enjoying MRIs, and even seen those advertisements for open MRI machines without understanding their significance, but yesterday I got first-hand knowledge of the MRI machine. Or as I call it the Dark Tube of Doom.
Of course that nickname is unfair, since I am very appreciative and continually fascinated by the study of medicine and its tools. However, I had a hard time with my 20-minute test and had to constantly talk myself out of squeezing the panic trigger to stop it.
But let me start with why I was there. I have had neck issues for a few years, and being a kidney transplant recipient even little things like chronic neck problems can be of concern. So after chiropractors, massage therapists, X-rays, and CT scans, I found myself in an MRI machine.
I was nervous at the unknown of this contraption and how I would respond to it. I had heard stories of nausea, vomiting, and claustrophobia. As I changed into my paper couture and locked my clothes in my locker, I wished the procedure was already over with.
Todd was my technician and I so appreciated his kindness. He must deal with people on the verge of a panic attack all day every day, and his psychiatrist-like manner has to be the result of that. His soothing voice explained that I could squeeze the panic trigger if I had to get out of the machine. Of course the "trigger" looked more like the hand-pump of a blood pressure machine than a trigger, and proved to be a source of comfort as this "emergency exit" cradled in the palm of my hand the whole time.
You are laid on a table and given earplugs before being entombed in the massive machine. You are unable to move your arms from your sides since there is no room. Couple that with the realization that your face is only about a couple inches from the smooth surface above you.
Try to sleep, Melissa.
But then the noise begins and you imagine how loud it would actually be without the earplugs.
Waves of calm and panic is how I can best describe the next 20 minutes. The forced calm comes from knowing that if you do indeed squeeze the emergency stop, you would only have to come back into the machine and start over. (I later learned that some patients have to take a pill to calm their nerves enough to go through their session.) I kept telling myself I've been through worse, citing my time on dialysis as an example. But then my mind answered by saying at least I could move in my dialysis chair.
Todd told me I was doing great, and only had 3 minutes left. Surely I can get through 3 minutes. That seems like nothing at work when having to run to use the restroom while we are playing a song.
Then he let me know that he needed to check the negatives of the pictures he took, but I knew I had used all my strength to get through it and couldn't wait until he had completed that task before he came to me.
"Can you get me out of this thing?"
It is amazing how looking at the pictures afterward with Todd, seeing my brain and nerve routes, the disks of my backbone and the way all these systems worked together, I felt silly for being so afraid. The end result was a miracle of science.
But I still made Katie take me to a deck for a drink or two when we left.
Melissa,
I'm very proud of you for making it thru the MRI. I had one myself before, and was a little apprehensive since it was my first time. I used to work in an internist office and scheduled them numerous times a day almost everyday. I was always kind of shocked to see how some of the paitents responded to having to have the MRI, as you said, needing sedation meds, breathing techniques, or the open MRI machines. I scheduled my appointment for the earliest time slot they had, and basically stayed up as late as possible the night before, so I went in very tired. They laid me on the table, I inserted the earplugs, closed my eyes and once it started I honed in on the repetative noise and made that my focus. By the time it was over I was almost in LA LA Land...
I hope the experience was worth it and you find out what's going on and your neck gets better.
One of your many loayal fans,
Jody Bolton
Reply to this