Fancy Schmancy Pictures

Since I started taking Tamoxifen, my left knee has been bothering me with a nice nagging pain. I explained this to my Oncologist in January but he felt that since it was just one knee, and not all my joints, that the Tamoxifen wasn't to blame. He advised me to go to my regular doctor.

After a visit to my regular doctor, she wanted an X-ray of my knee, so I had to go to the Herning hospital for the X-ray. But, nothing was apparent from that little black and white picture and she decided to send me off to an Orthopedist.

So, earlier this week, I trotted off to Viborg Hospital to meet the Orthopedist. I had a 9:15 am appointment so I brought along my Kindle, and the paperwork they had sent me by mail, figuring I'd have to sit awhile. When I got there at about 9 am, the receptionist surprised me by greeting me in English - she must have read my file because I hadn't yet said a word! She told me to sit in section 4 and I prepared myself for a wait. Before I could even get a pen from my bag to fill out papers, they called me in - yeehaw! After a 15 minute consultation with the Orthopedist, he decided that I needed an MRI of my knee. He then explained that I would have to go to the private hospital in Viborg for the MRI and that it would be about a 2-week wait. That was on Tuesday.

Yesterday morning (Wednesday) I received a call from a private hospital in Herning asking me to come in for my MRI today! She explained that the wait time in Viborg would be too long and that my file had been sent over to them instead. I have to tell you it's quite handy to live smack in the middle of these two cities!

I have never had an MRI before and I wasn't quite sure of what to expect. I arrived at the hospital this morning and I have to say, the place was much smaller than I had anticipated. The MRI machine was actually a portable unit that was in a trailer in the parking lot. Once inside, it was just me and the technician. I had to lie down on the machine and then she put all kinds of braces and straps around my knee. She gave me some headphones to wear so I could listen to music to counteract the noise of the machine. She was telling me everything in Danish, which was okay as I was understanding the majority of what she was saying. There was, however, one thing I definitely misunderstood. When she explained it all, she said I had to be perfectly still and I was sure she had said it would take about 2 minutes. I'm thinking.. no problem!

Problem. 2 minutes and 20 minutes, in Danish, sound a bit similar. So, as the machine is cranking away, loudly, and I was listening to the 3rd song on the headset, it soon hit me that she didn't say 2, she said 20, and I was going to be stuck here for a bit. Oh well, there wasn't anything uncomfortable about any of it so I didn't care.

Next thing I knew, she was waking me up. Yes, despite the songs in my head and the very loud machine, I managed to doze off. I'm sure I'm not the first to have done that!