Another Day…Another Scan

My issue with headaches and face pain unfortunately still continues on…and on….

Finally saw a Neurologist last week…and the good news is that there is no sign so far of anything nasty causing my pain.

It seems that as soon as my medical history is reviewed, alarm bells ring because of having cancer…that will happen for the rest of my life.

It’s like having a gremlin stalking you, ready to pounce at the first sign of weakness…

The Neurologist was unsure of what could be the problem, although he feels it could be a migraine that just isn’t going away…oh joy!

He showed us the CT scan that I had when I went to emergency….it was quite bizarre seeing the inside of my head on the monitor!

And I had no idea that we had so many sinuses….you learn something new every day!

And he assured us that he could see nothing that shouldn’t be there.

But he decided to send me for an MRI which would give a clearer picture of what might be happening…he also wanted to have a close look at my neck as well to see if the pain could be originating from there.

So today we fronted up at our local hospital…..and headed to yet another department…..I am afraid we are starting to know this hospital a little too well!

My appointment was for 3.30pm but as usual, there was a wait…an hour wait to be exact.

I wonder how much time my husband and I have spent waiting in hospitals over the years….thank goodness for the invention of the ipad!

Finally it was my turn….I was taken into the changing area, and then into the MRI room.

I have had an MRI before, and my husband has had several so this was all routine to me.

No needles or contrast needed like I had with the CT scan so that makes this a breeze in my opinion!

But if you have never had one before, having an MRI means you are laying on a thin, rather uncomfortable bed, which is then sucked into a large metal tube.

A cage is placed over your face, and you are given a panic button in case you need them to stop.

And I have to warn you…it is loud…very loud!

Even though I had headphones on, the amount of noise that machine makes is amazing!

You can have a choice of FM radio to listen to, but as in my past experience, nothing came through the headphones…

But there was one thing that was different in this machine from the one I experienced years ago…..it had a mirror so you could see the staff behind the window.

That would certainly help if you were on the claustrophobic side.

However, I was quite relaxed…and if it wasn’t for the incredible noise, I would take the opportunity to have a snooze!

My scan today went for about 25 mins….its hard to lie still that long, but I just tried to relax and write this blog post in my head!

I knew blogging was a good thing to do…it can certainly help to focus your mind…trouble is my memory is like a sieve so this post isn’t quite the brilliant prose I composed while in that metal tube!

Finally, the 25 mins of trying to lie still, and not to sneeze or cough, I was let out of the “cage”!

Now I hope that the mystery as to why I am having such pain is revealed….and that its not that damn sneaky cancer reappearing again….