MRI-2

Today I went to my home away from home – no, not my office or the bookstore – to U of M Hospital.  I know it probably sounds strange, but I’m so comfortable there and none of my visits freak me out like I figured they would.  I know my way around, the people are all so good and friendly; it’s not a bad place to be.

I had a second MRI – this time of my abdomen/kidney because my CT scan showed a small spot and Dr. L wanted to make sure that it was merely a cluster of blood vessels, as he suspects it is.  He’s not concerned, so neither am I.

The MRI experience was definitely different this time.  Last time it was just of my head, which was not very bad…loud, yes, but I certainly didn’t freak out or anything.  Today, my whole body went into the machine and my arms were trapped by my sides. I wasn’t disturbed by the squishiness factor as much as I sort of forgot how to breathe right.  Yes, that’s right, I was totally breathing wrong – couldn’t catch my breath, then was breathing too slow – as if I was just over thinking it or something.  Oh, and during this test? They needed me to hold my breath a number of times.  By the end, I wasn’t sure if I was actually holding my breath or not!

My next appointment is next week with Dr. L – surprisingly, it’s my first follow-up appointment! I can’t believe it’s been 3 months since I first met with him and I’m still working on getting all my tests finished up! Time is moving by so fast…I suppose the good part is that the more time that passes without recurrence, the better it is.

I had a physical therapy appointment yesterday – the therapist was great and taught me how to do lymphatic massage to keep my leg from swelling up too much and keep the fluid moving.  I have one more appointment with her next week as well.  She has given me the go ahead to start exercising again – starting out with walking  – as long as I can keep my stupid compression stocking up!

So there you have it…a mini update from me!

Tagged as: cancer, forgetting how to breathe, medical tests