my own beat

I had my second MRI. This one was after three treatments to see if the tumor is responding to the chemotherapy. This time it was much faster- only ten minutes instead of a half an hour when they were "staging" me. I'm still amazed by how loud that thing is. As I lay there, perfectly still in the narrow tube with my eyes closed, the 'EH EH EH EH" noise makes my whole body shake. It reminds me of being in a dance club with some electronica beat pulsing through my body. At least, that's what I try to think about when I'm in there. Dancing, people pressed in together, the beat reverberating through your body as big screen tv's around the room flash random and abstract images.

Then it changes. A very loud hum starts that sounds like I'm in the middle of an old black and white movie- flying in some old war plane. Then over the top of the hum is a loud beeping sound like some alarm has started ringing in the plane- your know, the altimiter is warning you the plane is dropping dangerously fast. This is when the cold dye is injected into your arm. Incredibly creepy. You get a hint of something foreign and synthetic tasting in your mouth. I know I shuddered, even though I was supposed to be very still.

Just when you start to get a little stressed about the alarm going off around you, it gets quiet, then you are back in the dance club. Much better than plumeting in an airplane. Then, you're done. They roll you out of the giant tube, have you throw out your earplugs, remove your IV and send you on your way to go home and try not to think about the results you'll be getting in a few days.

Luckily, mine were good. The numbers didn't look very impressive at first but when Mark did the math, it showed the tumor shrunk by 22%. I made him do the math for me three more times. 22% is good. Math rocks!

Maybe I should go to a dance club some day to think about my MRI. That sounds so much better than the reverse...