2010 Brain MRI & ENT Appointment

I had my annual MRI for the tumor in my noggin and a hearing checkup today. As I mentioned last year, I'm somewhat of a basket case for a good week or two before the big day. I worry myself sick thinking about how rotten MRI's are, the possibility of the tumor(s) having grown, my hearing having gone downhill, etc. This year wasn't much different in terms of the days following up to my appointments but thanks undoubtedly to the prayers of many dear family and friends, today went beautifully.

The waiting room was packed when I got to Imaging and Neuroscience (first time I'd seen more than just a couple of people in there) and I assumed that I'd end up waiting a while. And I did. When they did finally call me back, they gal said I could wear the wire-free sports bra I brought along and that I could leave my underwear bottoms on. Not that you want to hear about me going into an MRI with or without any unmentionables on but this was very welcome news as last year, they required that I leave both off. Another happy thing was that when I inquired as to whether or not I'd have to have wear a horribly constricting brace over my breastplate like last year (read: hardly able to breathe...forgot to mention it in last year's post), I was informed by the tech that my particular MRI scan doesn't require said brace and that whoever set me up last year shouldn't have put it on. Another sigh of relief. One final bonus to this year's MRI: my own iPod. If you read my post from 2009, you'd know about my previous music experience there. This year was much improved with me listening to songs from Glee while wiggling my toes to the beat and trying really hard not to sing along. Between my precious Valium pill, listening to my own music, and feeling calmer than ever, this was hands down my best MRI experience yet.

After getting out of my MRI late, we rushed up to the hospital (ate my brown bag lunch of a sandwich and grapes on the way) for my hearing test and to meet with my ENT. I always wonder how much I'm missing/failing on my hearing test and was happy to have the tech inform me that there had been no changes since last year. We had to wait a while to see my doctor but when we did, the visit was short and sweet with him telling me that while the MRI showed a variance of about 1mm since last year, it's well within the range of normal (measurements aren't always exact and the system isn't perfect) and he's confident that there hasn't been any growth. And this means...the tumor in my brain/inner ear and I get another year off. Come next September, I'll be a bit of a wreck for a couple of weeks before we go through all of it again. But as my mom says, if we have to have this whole process happen every year and find out that the tumor hasn't grown every year, we'll take it.

Next week I'll be seeing my Neurologist about possible problems with the tumor at the base of my spine. I've been having numbness/tingling in my right leg off and on over the past few weeks and anytime a patient has these symptoms, he wants to meet with them. I have noticed that it's less noticeable (if there at all) when I get more rest and sleep so I'm hoping and praying that nothing more than a quick appointment and discussion is needed. Crossing my fingers that we keep the current plan of an MRI of my back and neck next fall. We'll see...