Day 193 = Resistance Bands + My MRI

Do you like small spaces? Do you like long needles? Do you like loud buzzing noises for literally minutes at a time? Then an MRI just might be your new happy place.

This summer, I have had quite the run-in with medical insurance, which is a by-product of me going to the doctor. I learned that my face plant cost about $1,200. My mammogram cost $252. And my hip X-ray was a $30 co-pay. Today I had an MRI on my hip, which cost $190. The one I was supposed to have last week was going to cost $667, but I was told I could go to another location. I am thankful these are my problems, but I do have sympathy for those who are less fortunate. It really brings the healthcare debate to the forefront for me. Before I knew about the other location, I sat and thought, "How bad does my hip hurt?" to decide if I was going to even go through with the procedure. Well, it hurts, so I made a date with the MRI.

So here's me this morning - ever the optimist - dressed up and made up all cutified just on the off chance that the radiologist would be cute and single (yes and married, it turns out). Anyway, I cannot wait to see my MRI scans. I just want to see what I look like on the inside.

I should note here that I have some vasovagal problems, which means I faint sometimes, but mainly when it involves the thought of needles. Like needles poking me. I can't even watch them on TV. Needless to say, tattoos are out of the question. This also equates to being a baby of a patient, so any cuteness I had mustered up at 7 am would have been lost on a cute single doctor anyway because after he injected me with dye into my right hip (for an arthrogram), I couldn't move or sit up for fear of vomiting or fainting. My leg felt so weird and stiff. They had to get a special stretcher to wheel me into the MRI. Yeah. I'm that girl.

So they wheel me in and put noise-reduction headphones on me and a wash cloth over my eyes. And then the show began. If you haven't ever been engulfed by an MRI machine, it's like being inside Tron. Or an alien pod. You hear a series of clicking sounds followed be either a long droning buzz or intermittent buzzing for about 30 minutes.

With the white wash cloth over my eyes doing its best to simulate night time, I thought it would be a good time to daydream. I've kind of put my crush behind me, and for the first time in years I couldn't even think of a guy I wanted to daydream about. While I've had two dreams recently about the crush, I am feeling like nothing's going to materialize in that area anytime soon. Yet my dream about Billy Crystal kissing me is an image that will not go away. So I started to think about what I was going to eat after this here MRI. Seriously, could I think about food any more than I already do? As the buzzing began, I thought about getting a donut. About mid-way through, I was thinking of a glass of pinot grigio. Toward the end, I was wanting a shot of Jager. I wasn't feeling claustrophobic, just annoyed and bored.

After the MRI, I still was wearing lipstick. Who wears lipstick to their MRI? This girl.