Journal: Back in the saddle

This morning, I had my MRI (lower spine). The last time I had one was five years ago, and it seems like MRI technology has made great strides since then. It seemed to be over a lot faster (45 minutes?), and the space inside was pleasantly lit and well-ventilated. It's still too loud, though: after the first scan, I asked to have the music in the headphones shut off, because I couldn't really make out any voices or music over the thumpathumpa of the machine.

I have to say, I enjoy getting MRIs. I think I've had 5 now, and I enjoy not only getting nifty pictures (hey, that's my tongue right? it's enormous!) but also the meditative experience of some strictly-enforced quiet time, time for reflection, recollection.

The first time I had a scan, I was 22 years old. I was spending a lazy, beery senior year of college studying in Nottingham, England, sometimes going to class, sometimes going to the pub, sometimes thinking about the sorta serious girlfried I left behind, sometimes thinking about what to do with myself after graduation. After a few months, I found myself at the University hospital getting a spinal tap and a myelogram. A couple months later, my turn for an MRI (no charge, courtesy of the National Health) came up.

It seemed to take longer than I thought it would. I'd brought a CD to listen to, a single by Juliana Hatfield, "Forever Baby" plus a handful of bonus tracks, and they had to replay it several times. I don't remember what I thought about that time; probably about the girlfriend (we got married a couple months later).

This time, I thought about ordinary stuff: the job, the house, the girlfriend who is now my wife. Like the last time, I peed myself a bit. I also thought about the pictures, each one a slice of my midsection, with a round spinal cord near the middle. Any active lesions? Any inactive lesions? And then what? Novantrone? Tysabri?

Then I put my pants back on, and went back to work.

technorati tag: multiple sclerosis