Life Musings

I had no idea what's involved in an MRI. Then I read the following, and I thought, "Boy, I hope that I never have to go through that!"

First it is an AMAZINGLY strong magnet. I was wearing this (OTC) knee brace, and the guy asked if it had any metal in it. I didn't think so, so we proceeded with the brace. Immediately after I had been rolled in, the guy rolled me back out. "You'll need to take off the brace - it contains metal". (This is the fun part), after I took off the brace, the thing was practically leaping out of my hand to go fly back into the MRI machine ! Even on "idle" there was this huge magnetic field !

As to the MRI itself, keeping still seems to be key. And it does take a while. Some people had warned me that it is loud. There is definitely noise, and it's not terribly loud (IMO). But after a while it does wear on you. Like being near noisy machinery for a long time.

If you're claustraphobic, it may be problematic - it is kind of a narrow tube. There's plenty of light, so it's not like a cave or anything. But there's also nothing to look at except the inside of the tube.

So you lie there, trying to estimate how long it's been, and how much longer it is going to take. Nothing to look at, and an annoying buzz/hum droning on. And you're trying to relax and remain as still as possible. That's about it.