Thursday, February 18, 2010

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!

7 comments:

  1. I'm surprised you could sleep with all that noise! Of course I'm always afraid to nod off in case I move my head. My MRIs have always taken approx. 1 hour, but then they do two sets: one without contrast liquid in my veins and one with.

    Keep us updated with the results?

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  2. LOL - napping in the MRI machine. Hope you get the results back soon!

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  3. Hope everything turns out Ok Patti! Now tell me about the Kindle! Did you buy it and have it shipped here? How does it work on this side of the pond, can you download books easily via the Amazon.com site, how much are they etc? I am really thinking about getting one and would love to hear how you like yours!

    You can email me if you want ... erecinella@gmail.com :)

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  4. Wow, I just read all the side effects of Tamoxifen! Are they sure it isn't a blood clot? Not to scare you, but my mom's cousin is going through treatment for blood clots and they started with pain in her legs. But it could be a myriad of things.

    Please let us know as soon as you get the results!!

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  5. Hope they find out what's up with your knee! I'd so doze off too! I can sleep through anything if I get the chance!

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  6. I hope all turns out well. I too sleep in those MRI contraptions. Love the cartoon--how true!

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