Let me start by saying I've had one MRI and one CT scan before this month - both lying on my back with knees raised on a foam rest. The MRI was preceded by a nice "happy" pill so that I could allow myself to be put into a cigar tube (even tho my head wasn't going inside!). That said, the three tests this months were something!
Test 1: Picture this: There's a 14 inch mattress on the floor and your kneeling in front of it. There's a rectangular hole in the mattress about 30 inches wide, 18 inches high and the depth of the mattress. On the leading edge of the mattress is a square metal bar and across the hole in the middle of that metal bar is another bar, forming an inverted T. Now, you're kneeling on the floor slightly above the mattress height. You lean forward, your chest, below your breasts, supported by the leading edge bar and your sternum supported by the cross bar. You put your arms out in front of you and your face on the padded massage-table support. Got that?? Now, envision that on a sliding table!! You're kneeling on the table, there's a platform in front of you with the bars, hole and face support. CONGRATULATIONS - you're having a breast MRI!! The machine itself is a shortened cigar tube - about 5 feet long I guess. It's constantly making a loud Whump, Whump, Whump pulsing sound. Earphones are placed on your head so the technician can talk to you and you can hear the music they offer. Tho that's often hard because of the Whump, the Clank, the rat-a-tat-tat and all the other sounds the machine makes. In that cacophony of noise, I hear the music - it's BOB FM - not what I usually listen to but OK, whatever. The machine noise drowns most things out until, in the distance, I hear Twisted Sister's "We're Not Going To Take This" - to which I said AMEN!! Later, it was "Yellow Submarine" and, since I'd had a Xanax just to get in the room with the machine, I had to admit it I was living in a Yellow Submarine! As my son, who took me said, "you were really high!". All I know is that it ended, I came home and took a two hour nap!
NOTE: Tests 2 and 3 were done on the same day!!
Test 2: CT scans are simple - except for the barium smoothies I was required to drink. It was labeled Berry Smoothie and listed blueberry as an ingredient. If a blueberry ever got close to that drink it was 1 small berry in a vat of the liquid. It was a pale, pale, pink and gross. But I dutifully chugged the first bottle before I went to the hospital to get a shot of radio active tracer for test 3. I was told to bring the second bottle with me cuz they'd try to fit the CT scan in after the shot. So off I went, got the shot and the IV (for the CT scan) and was told go to the waiting room and chug the second bottle, they're ready. About 20 minutes later in I went to get the CT. I like any test where I don't have to take my clothes off and that day I had two! Laid down on my back, with my knees raised and hands over my head so they could get to the IV and into the doughnut I went. Since it is only a doughnut and not a tube no medication is needed (and my head didn't go under the doughnut). That machine sounds like a small jet engine revving up - all in all, except for the drinks, an easy test. I was then told to eat (no problem), drink a lot and use the bathroom a lot before test 3.
Test 3: If you've never had a full-body bone scan let me tell you now what no one told me - for someone with claustrophobia it's a hard, hard test. Once again you keep your clothes on (a plus) and there's nothing to drink (another plus), there's only the shot - not a biggie. So, back on the table, narrower than the CT one on my back, knees raised. There's a doughnut shaped machine and in front of it a flat plate facing down on a large metal arm that moves the plate up and down. The plate is about 18X20?? and is about 2 feet over my head. So far so good! The technician tells me that the table will slide into the doughnut, the plate will come down (what???) but is otherwise stationary and the table actually will slide backwards under the plate. I can keep my eyes open or closed either way. OK. But to keep my arms down close to my body, there's a wide strap that is secured across. On the one hand, it is confining, but on the other, gives your arms a place to rest. Still good so far. I close my eyes, the table slides my feet toward the machine and I hear the buzz of the plate (camera) come down. I sneak a peak - OH MY GOD the #*&% plate is about an inch above my nose!!!!! Eyes slam shut and all I see is haze grey (the color of the plate) and I start talking to myself. "You can do this - breathe - don't panic" and time slows down to a crawl and I wonder when the stupid table is going to start moving!! I feel the table vibrate and the technician says - "It's going to take 12 minutes". Again, deep breath, hold, slowly release - come on. Just about the time I'm thinking I'm going to start yelling "get me out of here!", I notice that the light behind my eye lids is brighter! I sneak a peak, the plate is now down around my chin and I can see ceiling tiles!! YIPPEE!! Deep breath!! Relief! Now the wait for the table to slowly slide the rest of me under the plate camera and it's done!! WHEW!
Happily the test results of the CT and bone scan came back the next day and were clear. There's no indication that the cancer has spread beyond the breast and 1 lymph node (found on the MRI) so the news is good! Plans are in the works for treatment - so I'm on the next step in this process.
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