Nothing dramatic happened at my MRI. Fortunately. At the start was nearly an hour's wait in a hot and claustrophobic little waiting room (they were getting us in training for the claustrophobia of the machine). I had to fill in a long questionnaire making clear that there was no possibility of any metal in my body. Then at last I was gowned up and had to leave everything, including my glasses, in a locker. Wandering around without my specs always makes me feel in another world. I did notice that the giant Polo mint was made by Siemens, in big enough letters for myopic me, so they obviously don't just do washing machines. It does all feel a bit like Star Trek. Futuristic, but in a retro kind of way.
The MRI machine itself was very impressive and very white. MRIs are very tedious but you can't even drift off into a complete day dream as I was repeatedly asked to hold my breath, at which point the thing clicked and banged away. I don't think I appreciated how noisy it is from when I've seen them on Holby City.
Part of treating every patient opportunity as a research trip is finding out info from asking questions of medical staff. It was impossible for much chit chat during the MRI itself though. Too noisy and I don't want to distract people who are concentrating on trying to get their job done. I don't think my characters will be having a heart to heart when one of them is actually on the slab, like I'm sure I've seen on TV.
When I did get a chance to day dream I started to think about a possible romance story set in an MRI department. Magnetic Attraction has a certain ring to it!
Hi Kate. Congratulations on keeping your sense of humour, and making the best of what could have been a really stressful situation. I think I would struggle with the whole claustrophobic thing.
ReplyDeleteTreating it all as a research trip certainly helps keeps the stress down. I suppose I'm then thinking about it all in a more detached way.
DeleteI think you are very brave, Kate. I wold have to be knocked out cold to go anywhere near the MRI scanner - let alone think about how I'd use it in a story. I have severe claustrophobia and often wonder what they do with people like me.
ReplyDeleteIt's not great - it does induce feelings of claustrophobia in people that don't have it normally, like me. I found shutting my eyes helped, and you can talk to staff over some intercom thing. Plus you have an emergency button in one hand. So if you needed outta there at any time, they'd do it. That's reassuring to know.
DeleteI've never had one of those myself but glad you coped with your scan okay. It could be extremely daunting. I'm a huge fan of 24 hours in A&E on the telly - wonderful real life drama and it's so well edited. There's a huge amount of material there for stories, anything medical generally is great fiction material.
ReplyDeleteYes endless material possibilities, I agree. That's why TV drama serials and soap operas can work really well in a medical setting.
DeleteI too adore medical dramas. Unfortunately, my husband has every symptom going so he retreats to his room while I indulge. I did see the life and death one from last Thursday from Addenbrookes in Cambridge. I must say, that place has grown beyond all recognition from my time in Cambridge when my kids were little. I think every experience can be treated as research. I had an MRI scan some time ago and pretty much like Kate, treated it as research! I haven't written about it actually. Hmm. Neglectful of me! Love Chrissie
ReplyDeleteEvery experience cam be treated as research -- and also watching TV dramas. :)
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