Breast MRI

This morning I had my double MRI to look for cancer on the right side. My kind of breast cancer, lobular, is often found lurking on the other side.

I was not afraid of doing this, but I was nervous. I had read online that dye is used for the MRI, and I have not had good experiences with dye. In 1985 I nearly died from going into anaphylactic shock when an x-ray technician injected contrast media dye into my veins to take pictures of a kidney stone. I ended up spending two nights in the hospital after waking up in intensive care. The allergist who was called in on my case said I should never have that dye again unless I was in a hospital and received regular doses of benadryl over a 24 hour period prior to the administration of the dye.

Well, I have NEVER allowed dye again. This morning I was supposed to sign papers saying they could inject dye for the MRI. I refused to sign it until I spoke with the radiologist. He assured me that the IVP dye with radioactive iodine that sent me into shock was NOT the same as the dye used today for the MRI. We went back and forth, but he finally won me over when he said that they did indeed have lots of benadryl and crash carts standing by, that I would never be left alone, that I would be continually monitored, and that I could have some benadryl in advance to mitigate any effects should they occur. So I signed and swallowed a nice big benadryl capsule.

I went into the room with the MRI, wearing my hospital robe, opening in the front as per instructions. I saw the tube and the table. The helpful technician, pointing to the table, says, "I guess you know what those holes are for." Hm...yes, clearly I was to lay on my stomach and let my breasts dangle down in the holes. I thought to myself, well, this is probably just the beginning of many weird, uncomfortable, and fairly undignified things I'll be subjected to in the near future.

I climbed up on the table, lay on my stomach with my breasts dangling in the appropriate holes, put my arms up over my head, selected country music for the headsets, and got rolled into the tube. Ooops. Hey, I'm touching the sides of this machine. When I made the appointment, I asked if this was an open MRI. I explained to them that when I weighed over 300 pounds, I could not fit in the tubes. Now I weigh about 220, but I'm still not small. I was assured that it was open and rated up to 500 pounds. Wow! That table might hold a 500 pound person, but the tube surely would NOT. I could not take in a deep breath without feeling squeezed by the tube. If I had gained another few pounds, I don't think I would have fit in there. It's a good thing I'm not terribly claustrophobic, but it was a bit unsettling. I tried to stay calm and breathe steadily but not deeply.

So there I was, in the tube, listening to music, and my hands dangling out the end of the tube. They took several pictures without dye, but then the moment arrived when they needed to set the IV in the back of my hand and inject me. I was nervous, but the benadryl was making me feel calm and slightly sleepy. The IV line was inserted easily and someone, I could not see who, held my hand through the whole rest of the test. Both the radiologist and the technician could not have been kinder to me through the whole thing.

When they said it was done, I was so relieved. After they pulled me out of the tube, I could barely lower my arms. It had taken about 45 minutes, and I was STIFF. I was also woozy and sleepy from the benadryl for the next five hours or so. Mark did the driving as we finished our chores for the day.

We ordered my mammograms from the last two years, returned our MD tags to the MVA, had a nice lunch of salmon salad at a local restaurant, shopped for a week's groceries in two different stores, and went to pick up some mail at our former neighbor's house. After all this, we got back to Cindy's house about 4:15. I barely had enough energy to put the groceries away before falling into a deep sleep in the living room for two solid hours!

Tomorrow does not include cancer on the agenda. I'll get my nails done and a pedicure. I'll go to the bank, and I might even relax and read a book!