When I came home yesterday, and told Mr. Muse I took a “Tesla 3” for a test drive, I received a look of incredulous shock. Then I got a look of “Heyyyy…. why didn’t you invite me?” Then I got a look of “Ohhh. Not a Tesla 3, but a 3 Tesla. Totally different.” (He works as an Electrical Engineer for a Design/Build firm specializing in medical facilities… he knows medical equipment.)
Indeed.
For those who have been playing along at home, I started to complain of heart issues when I was fourteen years old. I was diagnosed 10 years later with AV Node Reentry, a variety of arrhythmia I had a cardiac ablation which fixed the issue and I was good for a few years. Then, I got hit again with a new issue, Ventricular Tachycardia, another arrhythmia Having two separate, yet similar, arrhythmias isn’t common at all. My cardiologist, Dr. Awesome, would really like to “fix” me, but we’re waiting for technology to get to the stage that they can actually fix everything that needs fixing. I went through a second cardiac ablation but they couldn’t take care of everything when they were in there. So, I went through my second Cardiac MRI yesterday in a 3 Tesla MRI scanner. More power!!
Last time I spent some “tube time”, it was in a 1.5 Tesla MRI and I didn’t have to take out my titanium studs, etc. This time even the titanium had to come out along with the wedding rings, the glasses and then… I had to wait for them to make sure I could go in with the IUD I have in place. Yeah, TMI, but if you have one and have to go into an MRI, you’ll be happy to know that the Paraguard is safe for both the 1.5 and 3 Tesla MRI scanners. Your IUD won’t come ripping out through your soft tissues… which I suggested might be the Radiologist’s concern to the Radiology Technician… which caused her to pause as I laughed about it. She said that that probably wouldn’t happen, to which I replied, “But if it did…. THINK of the story I could tell people!”
Going through the MRI isn’t too bad. It’s tiny. If you’re claustrophobic you’re probably REALLY going to hate it and I bet you’ll be sedated. You get to wear HUGE head phones and they play whatever music you want to listen to. There is a blue light. The contrast dye is cold and it tastes weird… and you can feel it as it moves through your body. It might make you feel like you peed your pants. It’s breezy and chilly in the tube, so ask for a blanket. There isn’t much in the way of padding – you will probably get sore. If you have to do breath holds like I did – there will be a lot of them. All in all, between napping in the prep area while they made sure I wouldn’t have my IUD come ripping out and then an hour in the tube, my afternoon was spent doing a lot of waiting. And driving, but mostly waiting.
I had some great Radiology Techs yesterday who humored me with by taking some photos on my cell. Thanks Univerity of Wisconsin Hospital – Radiology!!!
Musings of the Amusing Muse 
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