Coughing In an MRI Tube

Well, Wednesday, I got to spend a day with my wonderful doctors taking part in what I kindly term as the most boring day ever my yearly checkup.

First, a little background. I had a paper due Monday (it was originally due the week before, but the professor was nice enough to allow extra days for those who either had other classes with tests/papers, or had brothers who had taken the laptop). As I worked on it, I became sick. The dreaded cold had attacked! The problem with college is that when one student gets sick, the other 28,600 can't be far behind. Such was my predicament. I had to deal with the cold all weekend and into this week - in fact, I missed both Family Home Evening and Institute in the same week for quite possibly the first time ever. So, I was a bit apprehensive visiting my surgeons on Wednesday. But, I had postponed the appointments twice already and had them moved by the doctors once, so I decided I'd better get this over with before I was due for my next yearly checkup.

So, I arrived at UAB early Wednesday morning, after fighting with the frost on my car (yes, Alabama does get cold). I had taken some Robitussin, so I thought I'd be fine for the wonderful 30-45 minutes inside the tube of death the MRI tube, where I would undergo an MRI of the head. I went in, was fitted with my IV tube in order to fill my body with radioactive fluid meant to turn me into a ninja turtle gadolinium halfway through the scan for the contrast portion, and placed inside the tube. About halfway through the first half of the scan, I noticed that I had an itch in my throat. I knew exactly where this was going and became worried. Sure enough, I had to cough. One problem - if I coughed and moved my head, the scan would be worthless and I'd have to sit through this again! I got in three coughs without so much as a flinch, and then as the machine paused between scans (you can tell this when the incredibly annoying beeping and other noises that drive you insane stop), I pushed the panic button and asked the radiology tech to let me cough. She got me some water, and while still lying down on the table, I drank, coughed, and felt much improved. I was able to survive the remainder of the scan without so much as a throat tickle.

I then visited with my neurosurgeon, who told me that the one small portion of the tumor that he wasn't able to remove has not grown, which means it likely won't. I then went to my otolaryngologist and had a hearing test done, where they were shocked to learn that I couldn't hear in my left ear where everything came up normal. All in all, a successful day. I finally came home late that afternoon, knowing that I wouldn't have to go back for another year that I was doing well.