Jani drove me back to UCH for an MRI of my heart this afternoon. We arrived at noon and I was taken right back. The nurse accessed my Bard Power Port and then I went back to the MRI Room. Technician Mary Frances told me the test would last 1 1/2 hours, but it took 2 hrs. A MRI of the heart was a trying procedure for me. After you get on the moving tube on your back, you CANNOT MOVE at all for the entire procedure - that's 2 hours folks! They monitor your EKG during the entire procedure too. A cardiologist was there with the technician during the test modifying the test as required by my physiology.
After the first hour, I had cramps in my legs and my right arm went painfully asleep. Plus, I was laying on the site of my bone marrow biopsy done yesterday. I wore headphones so Mary Frances could talk to me during the procedure which was about every minute or so. She would instruct me to take a deep breath, exhale, take another breath and HOLD IT for 20 or 30 seconds while the MRI machine sounded like I was in a metal blasting zone. I was able to do it every time she asked ... a gazillion times and I'm not exaggerating.
No sleeping during an MRI of the Heart - you need to be totally alert and cooperative~ it thoroughly wore me out! Toward the last 30 minutes, I was automatically injected with contrast dye which smells funny, but not a bad smell. Mary Frances said I might taste the contrast as metallic, but I did not.
I was delighted when the test was over and so was Jani - who thought I must have left without her --- she was in the waiting room so long!
We went over to the cancer clinic scheduling to see if I could see Dr. Myint after the MRI of my heart. He didn't want to see me just yet because he won't have the MRI results for 24-48 hours. A nurse transplant coordinator that I haven't met, Christine, talked to Jani on the phone and relayed this information. Just continue to take the Fragmin injections and don't do anything that stresses my heart.
However, believe me, if that blood clot in my heart was going to move - it would have MOVED during the MRI of the Heart - it was a workout that I hope I never have to have again.
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