finally, i went for my mri this evening.
arrived there promptly at 7.30pm and went straight to the mri lab. there was an elderly gentleman undergoing the scan when i arrived. and waiting for her turn was an elderly indian muslim lady (let's call her ah cheet). indian cos you can see from her skin tone. muslim cos you can tell by her children all around her and their dressing.
anyway, the radiographer came out to brief me on what to expect, made me change into the hospital robe and i waited with bee at the corridor waiting area. in no time, the ah cheet was asked to go in. and in less than a min, an alarm went off. the next thing i saw was ah cheet being pushed out in a wheelchair... she was near tears and kept saying she felt like dying. she spoke in malay. she was limp and even in the wheel chair she couldn't sit up straight. it was an unsettling sight. the radiographer on the other hand looked a little flustered. she must have thought ah cheet's reaction was a little over the top for she told her male partner that even before she could start any procedure, ah cheet already pressed the button. i think it was fear. they eventually did not go through the procedure with ah cheet.
i was next. frankly, i was not in the best of psychological state after seeing ah cheet come out half-gone.
sighs, seemed like i always get into this awkward situation when people before me always had some issue. remembered once when i went for my leg operation couple of years back. i was under heavy anaesthesia and was waiting for my turn to be operated on. it was already at the point of no turning back. the operating theatre door opened. there was an old man. he had just had his operations. apparently, his anaesthetic effect petered off and he woke up before he could be wheeled out of the operating theatre. so, when the operating theatre door opened for me, i could hear him wailing away in hokkien that he was in terrible pain... imagine the psychological effect on me!
ok, back to my mri... so, with me still struggling to put ah cheet's experience behind me, i went in. i told myself i will be brave. or at least pretend to look brave. i forced a smile. after being asked a few standard questions, i was asked to lie on the mri machine. felt cold. i was asked to put on ear plugs. then they placed something over my chest and told me not to move, not to swallow my saliva and to press the button if i needed help. next thing i know, i was pushed into the mri scanner. it was a huge tunnel like machine. admittedly, it felt a little squeezed. luckily, i was not claustrophobic. i closed my eyes. there was a lot of noise. telling myself i had to stay still for about half an hour, i psyche myself to think that i was in a spaceship and was about to go into deep space (kinda like start trek or star wars)... the noise continued. and after sometime, the radiographer told me i could swallow my saliva but i should keep still... this process repeated again. this time round, i imagined i was jodie foster in contact. i imagine myself dropping and appearing on a planet in a galaxy far away. and the radiographer came on again telling me i can swallow. and then the process repeated itself 3-4 times. and by the time it ended, i felt a little headache and giddy. otherwise, i was ok.
the whole procedure lasted about half hour.
and as quickly as i was asked to proceed with the procedure, i was also asked to change up and that i could leave. it was indeed an interesting experience.
i shall now wait for the result in two week's time!
arrived there promptly at 7.30pm and went straight to the mri lab. there was an elderly gentleman undergoing the scan when i arrived. and waiting for her turn was an elderly indian muslim lady (let's call her ah cheet). indian cos you can see from her skin tone. muslim cos you can tell by her children all around her and their dressing.
anyway, the radiographer came out to brief me on what to expect, made me change into the hospital robe and i waited with bee at the corridor waiting area. in no time, the ah cheet was asked to go in. and in less than a min, an alarm went off. the next thing i saw was ah cheet being pushed out in a wheelchair... she was near tears and kept saying she felt like dying. she spoke in malay. she was limp and even in the wheel chair she couldn't sit up straight. it was an unsettling sight. the radiographer on the other hand looked a little flustered. she must have thought ah cheet's reaction was a little over the top for she told her male partner that even before she could start any procedure, ah cheet already pressed the button. i think it was fear. they eventually did not go through the procedure with ah cheet.
i was next. frankly, i was not in the best of psychological state after seeing ah cheet come out half-gone.
sighs, seemed like i always get into this awkward situation when people before me always had some issue. remembered once when i went for my leg operation couple of years back. i was under heavy anaesthesia and was waiting for my turn to be operated on. it was already at the point of no turning back. the operating theatre door opened. there was an old man. he had just had his operations. apparently, his anaesthetic effect petered off and he woke up before he could be wheeled out of the operating theatre. so, when the operating theatre door opened for me, i could hear him wailing away in hokkien that he was in terrible pain... imagine the psychological effect on me!
ok, back to my mri... so, with me still struggling to put ah cheet's experience behind me, i went in. i told myself i will be brave. or at least pretend to look brave. i forced a smile. after being asked a few standard questions, i was asked to lie on the mri machine. felt cold. i was asked to put on ear plugs. then they placed something over my chest and told me not to move, not to swallow my saliva and to press the button if i needed help. next thing i know, i was pushed into the mri scanner. it was a huge tunnel like machine. admittedly, it felt a little squeezed. luckily, i was not claustrophobic. i closed my eyes. there was a lot of noise. telling myself i had to stay still for about half an hour, i psyche myself to think that i was in a spaceship and was about to go into deep space (kinda like start trek or star wars)... the noise continued. and after sometime, the radiographer told me i could swallow my saliva but i should keep still... this process repeated again. this time round, i imagined i was jodie foster in contact. i imagine myself dropping and appearing on a planet in a galaxy far away. and the radiographer came on again telling me i can swallow. and then the process repeated itself 3-4 times. and by the time it ended, i felt a little headache and giddy. otherwise, i was ok.
the whole procedure lasted about half hour.
and as quickly as i was asked to proceed with the procedure, i was also asked to change up and that i could leave. it was indeed an interesting experience.
i shall now wait for the result in two week's time!
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