Turns out the MRI lab happens to be in the same building as the sleep clinic. Quite a coincidence for me as I’m sure to have nightmares for weeks from the damn MRI machine. I’ve had an MRI on my knee and hip before and never felt claustrophobic. Felt very relaxed getting ready for everything today and the technicians were great to work with. Several of the scans required an injected dye so I had to have an IV and needed to have my arms over my head for the whole series. I got as comfortable as I could and then they slide me into the machine.
Thinking everything was going to be fine, I watched myself going in. Didn’t realize how deep the tube was. When I stopped moving, I looked back over my head and couldn’t see the opening and I couldn’t see my feet on the other end. The surface was within 2 inches of my face. Then I start thinking, holy shit, I’m going to be in here for an hour and can’t move. Suddenly I was VERY claustrophobic and felt a panic attack coming on. Tried to focus and breathe and relax. Didn’t work. All I could think about was being trapped. Terrifying. I asked the technician if I could reposition my arms and I’m pretty sure she could tell I was having issues. The conveyor slid me back out and we talked about options. She could medicate me but I’d have to come back another time. I decided to give it another shot, this time I never opened my eyes. It’s pretty well lit in the tunnel and they circulate cool air as well. Did my best to imagine I was lying outside in a wide open field. Seemed to help. Kim was very supportive through out and checked in with me every chance she could. Very glad it’s over with. I much prefer the sexual imagery of the CT Scanner to the trapped-buried-alive-imagery of the full body MRI. Results were available for me by 2:00 PM. Pretty impressive turn-around time (about 4 hours):
Dear Mr. Kesler,
I received the results of your 5/26/10 abdomen MRI scan. The purpose of this scan was for further evaluation of a 3.5 cm x 2.1 cm liver lesion of unclear etiology. I am pleased to report that the MRI scan determined this to be a benign hemangioma (collection of blood vessels). All other organs appeared normal, including your gallbladder, pancreas, spleen, kidneys, and adrenal glands.This also means there is no visible anatomical reason to explain your episodes of hypoglycemia. I am looking forward to hearing about your upcoming endocrinology consultation. If you have any questions, please feel free to reply to this message.
Good news: Doesn’t appear the liver lesion is causing problems and no anatomical reason to explain the hypoglycemia
Bad news: Still no specific diagnosis
Endo consult next week to look forward to!