MRI's are NOT fun!!!

As I said in my earlier post, I had to have a MRI Saturday. I was freaking out a bit, partly because I had always been told that I couldn't have one because of the steel rods in my back and also because I'm claustrophobic. I asked a lot of questions regarding my rods and the nurses, doctors, radiologist, etc. assured me that they weren't going to come flying out of my back when they turned the mri machine on. I calmed down a bit on that, but the fact that I am claustrophobic still bothered me.

When I got to the mri place, the nurse gave me a Valium and a shot of Demerol. You'd have thought I'd have been in la la land, but nope. As soon as they led me into the room where the mri was located, I got a knot in the pit of my stomach. Just looking at the opening that I was supposed to fit inside scared the hell out of me. I took a deep breath though and proceeded on. After getting situated on the table and being as comfortable as I could be, the nurse put a washcloth over my eyes, put ear plugs into my ears and told me to relax and breathe. I did as I was told, but even having my eyes shut and the cloth over them didn't stop me from seeing how dark it got as soon as my head was inside the machine. I took a deep breath and kept telling myself that I could do it. that didn't happen though. As soon as I felt the sides rub on my shoulders and arms, I freaked out....big time! In my doped out mind, I was being very calm about asking to be removed, but in reality, the nurse said I was screaming for her to let me out and I was kicking my legs and flailing my arms. I just know that I was in tears by the time they got me out of the dang thing.

The nurse led me to a bathroom so I could splash water on my face and calm down. That seemed to take me forever to do, but I did. She then took me to the OPEN mri and told me that they'd just go that route instead. I don't know why they don't do that in the first place for people who are claustrophobic. It sure would have saved time and embarrassment. The whole procedure took 45 minutes to complete. I actually snoozed a bit while I was in the open mri. I don't think I could have done that in the other one.

I'm supposed to have the results this afternoon so I'm just waiting patiently for the doctor to call. I am keeping my fingers crossed that it is just a pinched nerve, but I have this feeling that it is
going to be more then that.

UPDATE: Just got a call from my doctor and apparently my mri was too blurry to read. I knew from the beginning that might be a possibility, but it still annoys me that I had to go through something that didn't even work. Now, my doctor is wanting to refer me to a neurologist. I don't know if I want to go or not. I don't want to be shuffled from doctor to doctor, racking up humongous medical bills, but never getting relief. I've lived with this type of pain since I was thirteen years old so I am used to it. The only reason I went to the doctor this time was because the pain was lasting longer then it usually does. I guess I'll see what this new doctor has to say, but like I said, I'm not going to go through test after test. We just can't afford that.