Evie's MRI

[Evie]

OK, for those of you who have never had an MRI before, let me see if I can describe this procedure for you.  Imagine that there is an alien orchestra all around you.  They have a wide variety of weird-ass instruments, mostly of the percussive sort, and they insist on playing them at top volume in a metal-walled room with the sound system speakers apparently focused directly at your eardrums.  Despite your earplugs, nothing can muffle the clanging, clanking sounds of the world's most boring symphony being broadcast directly into your cranium.  Your "auditorium" is little more than a whitewashed coffin, although at least your feet and lower legs are sticking out into the open (and overly cool) air.  If you are fortunate enough to be having this MRI for a shoulder injury, then your shoulder is also wedged under a plastic clamp of sorts, and your arm is strapped down in nearly the most uncomfortable position possible (they also wanted to do a second MRI with the arm raised above my head, but that would have been the most uncomfortable position impossible, since I can't raise that arm more than 60 degrees out from my body in any direction anymore, so they decided to skip that one).  Oh, and you have to lie perfectly still in that position.  For thirty to forty minutes.  But aside from all that, it really wasn't too bad.  Almost hypnotic, actually.  Duncan and Alaric suggested using the time to meditate, but the best I managed was imagining some feeble kaleidoscope shapes on the white concave surface mere inches from my eyes.

The cool thing is that they let me keep a disk with my MRI images on it, so now I can take a scenic tour of the inside of my shoulder anytime I want, as long as I'm at a computer that can read the DVD.  (Or CD.  Whatever.)

The final diagnostic impressions:

1.  "Findings suggestive of adhesive capsulitis."  This is a fancy way of saying I've probably got a frozen shoulder.  I could have told you that without the MRI. 

and 2.  "Low-grade partial bursal surface supraspinatus tear."  Which is another fancy medical way of saying exactly where it is that I've got a tendon tear in my shoulder, and how deep that tear is.  Based on what diagrams in various online textbooks are showing me, it's probably that spot on my shoulder that I could easily poke at and say "See this spot?  It blumming well HURTS!"   

So does this mean more exercises, surgery, or what?  Dunno yet, but finding that out will be the next stage in the process, I guess. 

[DesertRose]

Ouch.  (Not that you needed me to tell you that.)

I hope your orthopedic doctor can figure out some way to get your shoulder back in action. 

[Laurna]

You did it! and you survived! Wait, they did not offer to blast soothing music into your ear phones to over whelm your already over loaded eardrums? Or was that part of the alien orchestra?

I really, really hope that your doctors will find you a healing solution to get everything back to pain-free, working condition.

Rest easy this weekend and have a Happy Valentines day.

[Jerusha]

I think I will not share your post with my DH, who is having an MRI on his shoulder in two weeks.    

I hope it turns out to be a relatively simple but very effective fix for your shoulder, Evie.  This has gone on long enough!

[Evie]

Music?  Earphones?  I could only wish!  No, I just got two foam earplugs to muffle the worst of the noise.  Or to attempt to, at least.  They reduced "deafening clanging" to "moderately annoying clunks and pings."

LOL, Jerusha!  It's really not too awful an experience, noise excepted, unless one is claustrophobic, which fortunately I'm not.  I found it mildly disconcerting for the first minute or two, then mostly boring after that.  The earlier appointment was for the MRI prep, which included injecting the shoulder joint with a local anesthetic followed by some fluid to help make the MRI images clearer.  Due to the adhesions, they were not able to put in as much of that fluid as they normally do because it was too uncomfortable for me, so they stopped after a minimal amount.  But neither injection was particularly painful.  A mild burning sensation as the local went in, but not bad beyond that.  More of a slightly annoying and mostly ignorable build-up of pressure rather than pain. To be honest, the only thing that brought tears to my eyes was when they tried to turn my arm palm-side upwards and weigh it down before the injection, and when they saw that was hurting me, they took the weight off and allowed me to just hold my arm as close to the optimal palm-up position as I could on my own and we went from there.  Compared to that, the MRI itself was a breeze.

[Aerlys]

The Alien Orchestra, best known for their smash hits, "Splittin' the Eardrum" and "MRI CacopHony"

[derynifanatic64]

May your recovery be swift.

[tenworld]

Ouch.  (Not that you needed me to tell you that.)

I hope your orthopedic doctor can figure out some way to get your shoulder back in action. 

I had this a few years ago (diagnozed without the MRI) and it was a wonderful PTist who tortured me for weeks but fixed me and gave me exercises that i do still (because i am afraid of her:)