The MRI Experience

"I think you might have torn your meniscus. You'll need to get an MRI done", said the doctor after I limped painfully into his office last Wednesday. A few days before, I started feeling a pain in my knee. I figured that it was probably due to a strain and would go away with some care. So, a hot water bottle was placed on the painful area and I took it easy. It improved but came back later in the day again.

After three days, I could not take the pain because it started to hurt even when I was sitting down. So, I made my way to see a specialist. "MRI.... it must be serious", I worried myself. I've never been in an MRI machine before but I've seen enough episodes of ER, Chicago Hope and Grey's Anatomy to know that it was a huge doughnut like machine that people get pushed into the centre of.

"You will not feel a thing in there", the nurse assured me when I was registering myself at the MRI centre. "That's good", I told myself knowing my low threshold for pain. I got into the medical gown that was provided to me and made my way into the MRI room. The machine looked extremely intimidating. Given a few seconds more, I would have chickened out but the MRI technician, the guy who was going to look into my knee, broke my train of thought and handed me earplugs before asking me to make myself comfortable. "Do I need these?", I enquired about the earplugs. "Yes", he said. "It's very loud when the machine is taking the images." Ok, a huge loud machine. I gulped.

Between the pain in my knee and my worry about the monstrous looking machine, I think pain won as I limped towards the flat bed and climbed onto it with the help of the technician. After strapping my leg into a vice-like contraption, the bed was activated and it moved into the "mouth". I felt like it was going to devour me. It stopped and I was told not to move. I tried to calm myself down.

The machine sprung to life. A low hum was heard through the earplugs coupled with a mild vibration. It didn't feel bad at all. In fact, it felt quite soothing. I closed my eyes and..... zzzz.....zzzz......

A little while later, I felt the technician pat me on my shoulder. When I opened my eyes, he had a little worried look on his face. "Are you ok?", he asked. "I'm fine. I fell asleep." The worried look was replaced by a laugh. I think he thought something happened to me while I was in the machine. "You guys are fast", I commended. "Not really", he said. "You've been in there for 45 minutes". Time really flies when you're having a good nap. I felt really rested.

I hobbled out of the MRI room with a tinge of regret not being able to spend a little more time in the frightful looking machine that offered a very deep slumber.

And in case you're wondering what's that in the image, it is the MRI film of my knee!