Buzz Buzz Buzz Thunka Thunka

I had to go for an MRI yesterday. For those of you keeping score at home, this is MRI number three since July. No, it's not common to go for that many in such a short time, and there's nothing else going on. I had to go for three because I had one done before the study started. I had to go for the second one because my insurance company deemed the c-spine MRI “Medically Unnecessary”, and by the time I was cleared to have it, I'd already had the brain MRI done. The one yesterday was the “end of study” MRI.

I don't mind having an MRI done, partly because now they give you the option of listening to music as opposed to the sound of magnets humming, clunking and buzzing. Oh, you still hear the buzz buzz buzz (think Emergency Alert System tone) thunka thunka sounds, but the sound is masked a bit by your choice of music. Sometimes.

At my first MRI of this year, the technician asked me what music I wanted to listen to during the test. I chose Fallout Boy for a couple of reasons. I like their sound, but I don't know their music well enough to be able to sing to it. Considering you need to be as still as possible during an MRI, I thought it was a good option.

The technician wedged my head into the halo using foam and slid me into the tube. I'm laying there, and the music starts. I listen for a few seconds, and it's oldies. Love songs. Oldies love songs. Oh. My. GOSH! I was stuck in the tube with my head wedged into this halo, listening to music that I really don't like. I thought to myself that I'd rather be listening to the magnets. My apologies to any of you who like love songs; I just cannot stand them. There's the odd exception here and there, but as a rule, no love songs. Ever. I considered pushing the panic button, but I didn't actually push it.

Thankfully, part way through the scan, the technician checked on me and asked if I was still doing okay. I said that I was fine, but if she wanted me to keep laying still, she really should change the station. No, I didn't really say that out loud. I asked her to please change the station to what I requested. She did, and the rest of the scan had Fallout Boy-esque music through the headphones.

For the second MRI, I don't remember what I asked for, mostly because that technician chose the station that I asked for, and the music played throughout the scan. I think I asked for something like classic rock. Maybe Van Halen or U2. I guess it doesn't matter.

At yesterday's MRI, the technician asked me what I wanted to hear, and I asked for Godsmack. She wedged my head into the halo, slid me in the tube, and all I heard was buzz buzz buzz thunka thunka. She forgot to start the music.

It's really hard for me to gauge time when I have no reference. With songs, I know most of them are about 3 ½ minutes, so 3 songs are about 10 minutes. When all I hear is buzz buzz buzz thunka thunka, it feels like an eternity. An eternity filled with buzz buzz buzz thunka thunka. The MRI sounds are too loud for me to think of anything except the MRI sounds.

We finally reached the part of the scan where the technician asked if I was all right. I said I was fine, but there was no music. She had forgotten to turn it on. She had even forgotten what I asked to listen to. She turned it on, and the rest of the scan I was figuratively head banging.

All three of my MRI's were ordered with and without contrast. When I went for my first MRI back in 2004, contrast was delivered was through an IV. It added a lot of time to the MRI. Also, the contrast was iodine-based back then. I have a shellfish allergy, so I had to take prednisone and Benadryl before getting the contrast dye. That, of course, added more time, because they had to wait for the medicine to kick in before they could start the IV, which took about 20 minutes if I remember correctly.

The dye they use now is Gadolinium-based and is delivered through an injection. The only adverse reaction I've had (even without any allergy precautions) is that I sneeze 3 times after the injection is administered. It's really difficult, though not impossible, to sneeze when your head is wedged into a halo.