Tests and More Tests

I know that I keep telling you that I’ve been sleeping a lot, but just had to share this with you. Tuesday I laid down for a nap…….I know “surprise, surprise”. I woke up at 6:33 – but thought it was 6:33am on WEDNESDAY!!! That got me scurrying around, because I needed to drink a bunch of contrast stuff for Wednesday’s CT Scan. I went into the refrigerator and got one of the bottles and began to shake it, as the instructions indicated. Then I decided that I’d better turn the TV on to see if in fact it was am or pm. You can imagine my huge sigh of relief when I discovered that it was Tuesday evening and NOT Wednesday morning.

Everything went like clockwork today for the CT Scan and the two MRI tests. They needed to start an IV line with which to inject the contrast dye needed for the scan. Well, almost “everyone” has trouble with my little tiny, rolling, thin, etc. veins. The gal tried twice and I said, “I don’t know why you are doing this when I have a perfectly good Port that you can use". So they called a nurse who showed up within 10 minutes and voila…..the Port was accessed. So very much easier. My scan was scheduled for 9:15am and I was done and they were walking me to the MRI area by 9:55am.

I’m claustrophobic – and getting to be more so every day. This was an especially large MRI tube, but still tiny by my standards. They put a board under my knees and I could see I would be entering head-first. An MRI is extremely loud, and I swear this one was just trying to see how much noise I could take. They asked me what kind of music I liked, as they were going to put headphones on – to mask the noise and give me something else to think about. First off, I had to get my head nestled in the “cradle” just so – to be able to get the most accurate reading. Then they put on the headphones, and then the bottom half of the “antenna” I believe they called it. Well, I could tell right away that I wasn’t going to be able to handle the headphones, as it was just too much stuff surrounding my face. So they took off the headphones and also removed the antenna piece (like a hockey goalie mask) to keep me locked in place. They said “you’ll have to be really still and not move, because WE CAN TELL IF YOU MOVE".

The first mistake I made on Wednesday was in NOT taking pain medication for my back prior to arriving at the hospital. I had to lie on this flat surface while they did almost 1 hour of tests, and my back just kept hurting worse and worse. I kept praying for the MRI to be completed, or at least to give me a diversion, when both of my hands went numb. And here I was – not supposed to move. At 11am the MRI was finally done, so I went back to the dressing room to change into my street clothes. Then I had to wait while they made a copy on a CD of all three (3) of the tests I had done today. And all I could think about doing was getting home, taking some pills, followed by a nap.

But as I was walking out the front door, I remembered that a friend of mine from church was having reconstructive surgery on her right wrist that morning, and I really wanted to stop by and check in with her if I could. So I called her husband (who was on his way back to the hospital) and he said the surgery was over and that I was more than welcome to visit a few minutes. She looked really well and sounded remarkably strong for just having surgery. She said that they had given her a block, which helped in the amount of knock-out drugs they had to use on her. I stayed about 10 minutes and then left.

Got home, had a little bite to eat, then read my mail and slipped off to la la land. Oh what blessed relief. I’ve now fed the horses, eaten dinner and I’m getting ready to take a Percocet (hydrocodone with Tylenol). Yup, still taking the good stuff. But I see that I’m starting to run a little low, so I’d better check on getting another prescription soon.

I’m feeling much better this evening, but will remain low-key for the next few days. They said that they would have the MRI’s read this afternoon and they would send me a copy of the results. Hopefully it will be something that is a simple fix. I’m praying for simple.