So today, I had the distinct pleasure of being shoved inside an MRI machine for nearly two freaking hours. I had an MRV (MRI of my veins, the renal veins to be more specific). From what I was told by the radiology tech, and from the information I read, this test should have taken about 45 minutes at most. Guess this process just can't go smoothly at any step of the way, can it? The garage I normally park in was closed for permit parking only when I got there, only to open when I walked past it to my appointment (I parked 3 blocks away), I was sent to the wrong radiology office by both the transplant clinic and radiology admitting (I asked twice where I was supposed to go) which cause me to be late for my appointment. I was fortunate enough to get a tech who knew how to place my I.V. No bruises or blown veins for me! Hell, I barely have a mark on my arm!!! She saw the remnants of the bruises that Wonder Tech left more than a month ago, and asked what happened. I vaguely explained, and she just shook her head. After the I.V. was in, I almost hugged her. Just the fact that she didn't try to install a garden hose into the crook of my elbow was the highlight of the whole experience. I was led into the MRI suite and brought over to the machine. I laid on the ridiculously skinny table, got hooked up to the contrast injection machine, swaddled in a sheet to keep my arms next to me, and covered with the MRI antennae. These are the grids that they place over the area being examined. I had two; one over my chest, one over my abdomen and pelvis. The tech set me up with headphones and then we were off. I was placed in the machine and shortly after, the test began. I swear, an MRI of any region between your chin and thighs should be considered a cardio workout; there are lots of "Take a deep breath and hold it" and "Okay breathe". Holding your breath for 20 seconds at a stretch, for multiple images. This becomes difficult with approximately 10 pounds of stuff laying across your chest and belly. This went on for about 40 minutes before there was an abrupt halt to the activity. Apparently the radiologist decided to briefly review my films mid-exam. When the scan resumed, I was given the contrast. Ladies and gentlemen, if you've never had the contrast for and MRI, it is a freaking weird experience. With a CT scan, the contrast makes you feel incredibly warm for a few seconds, and then you feel like you've peed your pants. The MRI contrast, however, made me feel so weird, it scared me for a hot second. I got the tell-tale metallic taste in my mouth, right before it got a tingly feeling in the back of my throat, all the way down my spine and in parts better left undescribed. It went away after a minute or two (kind of hard to judge time when your face is 3 inches from the inside of the tube). The test went on, and I then I felt a hand on my foot. The tech pulled me out of the machine and told me that the radiologist wanted to review the new scans before he let me go. A few minutes later, the tech came back and released me from my swaddling. He removed my I.V., said that the scans would be officially read by the end of the day. I thanked him and beat feet out of there. Got home, snuggled my baby boy, and shared a turkey sandwich with him.
I was hoping that the scans would be posted online to my imaging account tonight, but alas they aren't. I also haven't heard from the Transplant team as to the results; I'm quite sure they will be going over these scans with a very fine-toothed comb, lest they miss something like they did last time. We are on our one-month countdown again. I really hope that there are no major hiccups this time around.
All for now. Goodnight!
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