MRI

I had an MRI (with and without color contrast) on my breasts. I had to lie face down with my arms above my head and my breasts pulled between foam boxes for about 45 minutes. It was terribly uncomfortable. The whole process should have taken about an hour total, from check in to check out, except that the staff at Methodist Hospital kept holding up the process.

At first, they would not me check in without having the actual doctor prescription. I called my doctor and he faxed it over immediately.

Then the medical assistant preparing me for the MRI said that they would not do it without having the reports from the previous tests (Ultrasound, Biopsy, etc.). She insisted that I had mammograms, which I didn't. I tried to ask if they could run the test and have my doctors intrepret the films, but she said they couldn't. She also yelled at me that I was doing everything wrong. She added that she had breast cancer last year and couldn't understand why I was making such a big deal about it. I really wanted to hit her.

Finally she left, and the MRI techs brought me back. They asked me to lay down on a platform. The assistant helped me arrange my breasts in foam pockets with my head in place so that I can't move. I had to hold still and they talk to me through the MRI. It's loud rapping and clicking. I found my mind trying to anticipate or create a pattern in the sound, but I can't. The sound made me think of Harrison Burgeron, from the Vonnegut story that no one else seems to have read.

Anyway we were at the hospital for about 4 hours for this whole process. It exhausted me.

Also, Dr. L. told me that my health insurance would not cover the PET Scan and that he'd been on the phone with them to persuade them otherwise. I am angry and frustrated. I feel like my insurance company is preventing my care.

After the MRI, I head to work. I'm awful and can't focus. I keep reading sad websites about wigs and cancer. I am super cranky pants today.
Needle Count: 4
Touch Count: 13