This is getting really frustrating.

[saxikath]

Is it just me, or is there something rather broken about the fact that it's been almost two weeks since I fell and I still don't know what I did to myself or what to expect?

Had the MRI this morning, after having to wait quite a while while they did one on a hospital patient. (Reminder to self: Things could be so much worse than they are.) MRI machines are noisy and intimidating. I don't think of myself as unduly claustrophobic, but I devoutly hope I never need an MRI that requires being entirely inside the machine. It was vaguely disturbing even just being in it up to my waist.

Communication has not been a strong point of this endeavor. The MRI tech told me, "Okay, I'll burn you a CD," without telling me what exactly I was supposed to do with it. Then I waited another 20 minutes and didn't get it, and finally went back to the MRI office and was a squeaky wheel, and got the CD. Then, figuring it made the most sense, I went back to the orthopedist's office, where they told me "Oh, we can look at that on the computer if it was done here." (Then why did they give me the CD??) Made a followup appointment for Tuesday (soonest possible one) to find out the results. (I had to ask about that -- they didn't say anything about it when they called to give me the MRI appointment!)

I realize a twisted knee is not a high-priority sort of ailment. But I do think this process could operate more smoothly! I'd like to know how long I have to wear this immobilizer, and whether I'm going to need surgery, and if I can do physical therapy, and... Sheesh.

Comments

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

When I was 19 and had an MRI for my back, I had to go entirely into the machine. I kept myself distracted by humming Gilbert & Sullivan tunes in my head.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

I had 2 MRIs of my head when I was in high school. For those, I was completely in the machine.

For the one for my knee, when I was in college, I only had to be in half-way. Such a difference.

Best wishes for a quick resolution as to what you did to your knee and a smooth return to total health.

[zahnarabai.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a disorganized office...

[lunacow]

Keep being the squeaky wheel. A friend of mine (in your area) recently had months of, it turned out, inferior treatment for a sprained finger that wasn't healing, before finally getting a doctor to prescribe therapies that actually helped. Your injury might not be high-priority to the hospital, but it's high-priority to you -- your mobility is at stake.

Heal well and smart!

[fizzixrat.livejournal.com]

I've never had a medical MRI done.

But we certainly did our fair share of tinkering with NMR (darn it, it's not an MRI, it's an NMR! But people get freaky about the word "nuclear"! (Especially in Boulder!)) apparti in physics labs at university.


I get giddy in CT (CAT) scan machines though. Granted, the places I've been at have replaced the intimidating claustrophobic tubes with a giant donut (that would make Homer Simpson drool). When I had the last done a month or so back, I spent a lot of the time using the readouts on the front to calculate the amount of power and energy being delivered into my body during the scans. The techs were wondering if I was talking to them at one point, but I was subvocalizing mathematical calculations. ;)


I hope you hung onto the CD, BTW. It'd be interesting to see what's on there, I would think.