Meeting Dr Zap

Maybe I should read this whilst in the waiting room....?

 

Today I went to St Luke's Cancer Centre in Guildford for the radiotherapy planning for the next stage of my treatment. The point of radiotherapy is to target any cells that may be left in your body after chemo and surgery. The amount (strength and duration) you need varies from person to person. I'm having 3 weeks worth with a weeks' worth of booster added onto the end.

  

Macmillan do a great information booklet and have a lot of info on their website about Radiotherapy. Click here to link to their site.

  

To make sure that the radiotherapy is as effective as possible, it has to be carefully planned. Planning ensures the radiotherapy rays are aimed precisely at the cancer, it makes sure that the cancer gets the prescribed dose of radiation while normal body tissues get as little as possible.

  

I arrived at my appointment and was taken through a consent form which detailed some of the side effects of radiotherapy, the reasons for having the treatment and a bit of information about the whole process.

 

I am having a new type of radiotherapy called Deep Inspiration Breath Hold (aka DIBH). It's for people with left sided breast cancers and the idea is to reduce potential cardiac damage from the radiation. Basically if you breathe in, you fill your lungs and rib cage with air which pushes the heart further back and therefore away from the radiation dose. During my treatment, I will have to hold my breath for 12 seconds. It's harder than it sounds because you're not allowed to exhale at all or let any air escape from your nose. The radiographers can tell exactly how you're doing on your breath holds because you have to wear some goggles that look like something from a computer game and have a little box taped to your chest. The box records your breathing and movement and then the goggles are connected to this. On the screen in front of your eyes you see two lines. One is a static blue box and the other is a yellow line which moves up and down in time with your breathing. When you do the breath hold, the yellow line moves up and the idea is that you get the yellow line into the blue box and it goes green. You then have to keep the line green (by holding your breath and staying very still) for those 12 seconds. If your green line drops out of the blue box and becomes yellow, the radiation will automatically shut off, it's very clever! Try holding your breath now and time it, it honestly feels longer than you think!

Here's some more information about DIBH

  

I had to undress my top half and put on my dressing gown and walk to the radiotherapy room (which was freezing cold!). There was a CT (computerised tomography) scanner there which basically scans you and takes a series of x-rays which build up a three dimensional picture of the area.

                                                           A CT Scanner

                     
I then had to lie on a fairly hard bed and was moved into a very specific position with my arms above my head (Dr Zap had already asked me if I had full arm movement, this is important as your arms have to be out of the way of the radiation).

They then put the goggles on me and I did a couple of test DIBHs to make sure I could get the yellow line to go green.

I was then taken into the CT scan, which is all open and nothing like the MRI Scan and had to do 2 x 12 second breath holds whilst staying as still as possible. You have to stay still so that the measurements are accurate and your exact position can be recorded. This record means the radiographer can check you are lying in the correct position every time you have treatment.

Once the treatment area for radiotherapy is finalised, the radiographer will make small tattoos on your skin. Nothing like as bad as it sounds I promise! They literally look like pen dots. I have 3 black ones. One in the centre of my chest, one on my left side and one on my right side. These show the therapy radiographer where to direct the radiation beams.

After that I was all done so got dressed & collected my treatment schedule, last one is the day before Rob's 30th.

I start on March 4th, bring it on.

 

 

 

Olivine

This evening I went to Olivine & Alison - a lady I met at the BCC Brighton Forum - came along too which was cool and she seemed to enjoy it.

Having not been there since November, it was a good opportunity to let them all know where I was in my treatment schedule (last time I went I was a fortnight post last chemo), to pick their brains about radiotherapy (my next lot of treatment) and to show off my hair!

When we got to Olivine, Marilyn. gave us something called a Big Box of Love, you can read more about the idea and how the company was born here. It was an enormous box and me & Rowena unwrapped it and I read the letter enclosed out to everyone. We then all got to unwrap a pressie :) I got a fab lavendar bath set, Alison got some bath salts, Rachel got Bathing Honey, there were nice notebooks, a make-up set, make-up bags and other bits - was really generous and what a lovely idea to send to people when they are having treatment to pick them up.

Sometimes at Olivine, we have someone coming in to talk to us, in the past there has been nutritionists, crystal healing, my new hair; and tonight we had a lady come in from Pretty Permanent Make-Up.

She spoke about what permanent make-up is and about the different types of permanent make-up that you can have. Although not my cup of tea (I'd be too scared of the needles!), the results did look pretty fab :)

High Five!

Today was results day of WLE #2. I'd managed to almost put the thought to the back of my mind and then as Andy came down to stay after a work meeting in Gatwick on Thursday night I didn't really think about it until I went to bed. So after a very restless night and all morning feeling sick, Rob drove us to Redhill for my meeting with my surgeon and BCN.

Sat in the waiting room at 10h45, waiting for my 11h00 meeting, I thought my heart was going to beat out of my chest it was going so fast. Annoyingly they were running 40 minutes late, which didn't help my nerves one bit.

Eventually my name was called, my legs were so wobbly I thought I was going to fall over as I walked to the room. As soon as I walked in the door (I didn't have time to even sit down or take off my coat), my surgeon shook my hand and said "We got it", I think I didn't hear him properly so I said "sorry?" and he said "we got clear margins".... I promptly burst into tears and high-fived him!!

What is a clear/negative margin:

He then told me that I would need 3 weeks of radiotherapy (aka rads - which is the minimum time they can give it to you for) and (as my BC is ER+) to take Tamoxifen for 5 years. I have to start the tamoxifen straight away and the radiotherapy will start 6-8 weeks from the date of my operation, so that will start around 5th-19th March.

My BCN then had a quick look at my scars, one where I had my SNB during the first operation and the other where I had both WLEs (they went in the same incision during the second op) and she said both were healing nicely. The reason there is the 6-8 week wait from the date of the operation, is that they need to make sure the skin is completely healed before they start rads on it.

I have a planning meeting on 11th February when I'll find out a bit more about what radiotherapy. involves. Until them, I'm off to celebrate!!

Fundraising

There are a few people I wanted to big up for fundraising already done, and others who have sponsored events coming up that I wanted to highlight:

First of all, my work (PLB) have chosen Macmillan as their charity for 2012/2013. They have done a fab job so far with various events and received this nice letter from Macmillan back in November.

PLB staff have raised lots more since then, such as a group of runners (Willem, Clare, Cathy, Rob, Laura, Mike, Suzanne, James and Guy H) taking part in the November Brighton 10k. Everyone finished and the team raised a fantastic £675 for Macmillan. An amazing achievement and thanks to all who sponsored the team :)

Also fun events like "Get Your Baps Out" - cooking sausage and bacon sandwiches on the BBQ at the start of a freezing December!

 

PLB not only fundraise for Macmillan, in November some of the guys in the office were sporting fab "mos" for Movember and  raised a fantastic £1150 to increase awareness of Testicular and Prostate Cancer. If you click here, you will see the we have even got some Mosista's involved on the last day :)

Two of my friends Robin & Michelle are both being Dryathletes for January. The Dryathlon raises money for Cancer Research. Basically neither if them can drink for the whole of January! Please dig deep and sponsor them if you can :)

In February, my friend Caroline is running the Brighton 1/2 marathon in support of The Olive Tree who have been a wonderful lifeline to me. You can sponsor Caroline by going here

Another friend Bob is running the Great South Run in October in aid of Macmillan, you can sponsor him here

Thanks to all the lovely fundraisers and to all of you who sponsor them!

WLE #2

Today I had my second WLE which I needed because they didn't quite get clear margins on the first op. Mum, Rob and I checked in at 07h00 and this time (because of the massive wait last time!) had prepared ourselves for sitting in the waiting room for a long time.

I was taken to register with the nurses at about 07h45 and as last time, she ran through various questions with me & measured me for some sexy anti DVT stockings and got me to wee in a little cup.

About 08h30 I met with my surgeon who explained exactly how the operation would work. Then I met with the anaesthetist who explained to me how the GA would work. He said they would put a cannula in my hand & then I would have the GA injected. He explained my arm would ache a bit & then I would fall asleep. As before, I told him that I was nervous because my veins aren't very compliant now after having had chemo, & he assured me they would be gentle! I also told him that last time I came round from the operation I was sick and he said they would give me extra antiemetics this time.

I then sat down for about another 45 minutes and then was called in to have my operation. It was a bit of a surprise as last time I didn't go through until about 14h00. I was taken through to a room to get changed. I had to leave my knickers on but take everything else off, put on my sexy stockings, hospital gown and then also my slippers and dressing gown which you are told to bring to hospital with you.

I went upstairs (in the lift) to surgery and then lay down on the hospital bed. The anaesthetist talked to me for a little bit and tried to put two cannulas in my hand (where the veins were not playing ball) and then on the third attempt my veins obeyed. The GA felt a little cold going in and then the next thing I knew I was waking up (it was 10h50 so the operation lasted just over an hour) on the recovery ward.

It felt like I was waking up from a massive dream and the first thing I asked was if I had a drain in, and I didn't - woo! I had an oxygen mask on for about half an hour and was also given some painkillers by drip because my wound felt a little sore. After my mask came off I was given some water, and then about 40 minutes later I was taken to the day surgery ward.

At the day surgery ward I was given a sandwich and a cup of tea and told to rest for a while, and that Mum and Rob could come and collect me about 14h00. One tip I'd give anyone reading this, is to take something to read, because just lying there waiting is very boring! Last time, because of the norovirus outbreak and lack of beds I had to just wait on the recovery ward (rather than go to the day surgery ward) and therefore I thought the same would happen again this time so brought nothing to read with me, mistake!

The lady from Medi-Home came to see me and said they would visit me at home for the next few days until they officially discharged me.

Once I had got my strength back up, I got dressed and sat in the chair in the day ward so that my bed could be made up for the next patient. Mum and Rob turned up about 14h00 and we waited for my BCN Carole who had a brief chat to me and gave me my follow-up appointment letter for 01/02/13. Fingers crossed for clear margins this time!

By 15h30 I was home, much better than the 21h00 last time :)

Food For Friends

Today I met up with some of the girls (Nicola, Amie, Kate, Hannah & Carolyn) from the Brighton BCC Forum I went to in November.

We went to a lovely vegetarian restaurant in the Brighton Lanes called Food for Friends, the food was delicious! I had Sweet Tofu Pockets to start and then Butternut Squash Gnocchi for main. Amie had a delicious sticky toffee pudding for dessert but couldn't manage it all so I knidly helped her out ;)

It was really nice to see all the girls, catch up with them and compare hair growth!

Op Update

On Friday I went for the results of my operation and I got mixed news. The great news is that following the SLNB, the lymph nodes do not contain cancer cells meaning that the cancer is contained and has not spread.

What happens after a lumpectomy is that the tissue that has been removed is examined to see if there is a 2mm margin of healthy cells around the cancer. This is known as a clear or negative margin. Unfortunately in my case there wasn't a clear margin (known as positive margins - ironic because it's not positive news!), which means that I need to have another operation (scheduled for 22/01) to remove a bit more tissue. Apparently this happens in around 20-25% of cases following a WLE.

Although obviously I'm really pleased about the lymph nodes, this journey just seems never ending!

Bragging Rights

Just had an email from Macmillan telling me that my Community Guest Blog on their website was the most viewed guest post of the last quarter of 2012 :)

 

 

Merry Christmas!

Pixie's Christmas Sacks

Back in August I bought some Pixie's Happy Bags and when I found out Pixie was doing some festive ones called Pixie's Christmas Sacks I couldn't not buy some!

 

These ones come in festive sparkly organza bags and contain:

 

A Snowball - To remind you to have fun and not take life too seriously

A Christmas Tree - Because nature is beautiful

A Reindeer - To remember the magic of Christmas

An Angel - To watch over you and send blessings your way

A Snowflake - Like you, special and unique

A "Merry Christmas" - Because that is what I wish for you

 

 

Pixie has now raised £9,000 (!!) for Cancer Research

 

 

At Home

First day back from the hospital, am reading up on the necessary After Surgery info.

I'm wrapped up tightly in a corset and I still have the horrid drain in but hopefully it should come out soon.

The Medi-Home nurses will come to the flat and check my wound, dressing and drain until they can officially discharge me.

Lovely flowers from Grandma Dilly

Christmas floral arrangement from Amanda & Paul

Pretty flowers from Gma & Gpa

 

Fagin investigating the balloons from SJ

 

Some of my cards:

 

 

 

The Op

Mum, Rob & I checked into the hospital at 07h00. We were there for about 15 minutes when a nurse came through & explained how the day would work. Then about 07h30 I was taken through to register with a nurse who ran through various questions with me & measured me for some sexy anti-DVT socks. Then I met with my surgeon's registrar who explained exactly how the operation would work.

About 09h30 I went down to the x-ray department. I had 2 mammogram photos taken & then 2 local anaesthetics (ouchy!) in lefty. They then inserted 2 wires, one in the area of the marker coil, the other in the area of microcalcifications. Feeling pretty tender I walked back to the waiting room and about an hour later I met with the Home Care nurses. The HCNs will be coming out to the flat for as long as I need them to check the wound, keep an eye on the drain, dressings etc & once they are happy I can officially be discharged.

About an hour later I met with the anaesthetist who explained to me how the GA would work. He said they would put a cannula in my hand & then I would have the GA injected. He explained my arm would ache a bit & then I would fall asleep. Having never had one before, I explained how nervous I was & he told me I would be very well looked after.

Then I met with my BCN Carole who gave me a pressie (shower gel, tissues, Polos, a pen, notepad, chocolates & a Get Well Soon card) & explained next steps (exercises to strengthen the shoulder & arm & that I was to relax lots) & that I might be a bit smurfy (blue face for a day or two, smurf wee for a day & blue boob for between 2 weeks & a few months) after the op due to the blue dye used in the SLNB.

About 13h30 I was feeling pretty hungry & thirsty having been nil by mouth since 20h30 last night. Then I was called to go for my operation. Eeeek! I kissed mum and Rob & walked down the corridor to get changed into my hospital gown, dressing gown, sexy anti-DVT socks & slippers.

I then walked down the next corridor & into the operating theatre. I lay on the operating table & they tried twice to put a cannula in my hand before finding a good vein. Once they had it in the anaesthetist chatted to me about my job & the next thing I knew I was coming round from the operation.

I don't remember falling asleep from the GA so it felt bizarre when I came round to be told it was all done. I vaguely remember Rob calling the recovery ward about 16h25 but was so foggy I couldn't be sure (later found out he did call & I wasn't dreaming). I was surprised to see I had a drain in as with WLEs you often don't need them but they told me I had a fair bit of oozing (yuck!) during the op. not sure how long it'll be in for but I can ask the HCNs tomorrow. After about 5 minutes I was sick a few times but this is a fairly common SE of having a GA.

The recovery team bought me water, a cup of tea, a sandwich & some jelly & ice-cream. I had a pretty sore throat from having had a tube in my mouth so couldn't really eat the sarnie but the ice-cream was great! Then after dozing a bit more I was taken downstairs (about 18h30) to see mum & Rob.

After waiting in the discharge lounge (sounds gross!) for about 15 minutes & having a smurf wee I was free to go home :) Michelle & Leanne kindly did Fagin duties so there were no stresses there whilst we were away.

I have a follow-up appointment on the 4th January to ensure they got 2mm clear margins otherwise I'll need another op. Fingers crossed!

Home from Surgery

Will post properly tomorrow, but hip hip hooray for being home!

Nuclear Medicine

Today I had a Nuclear Sentinel Lymph Node Scan with Nuclear Medicine in preparation for my operation tomorrow. I went along to the hospital and had to take off my top & bra, put on the gowns and lie down on a padded exam table. I then had an injection of a weak radioactive dye (technetium-labelled sulphur colloid) in my left boob close to the nipple. The injection itself didn't hurt but when they injected the radioactive tracer liquid it stung a little. I thought that I was going to be having the blue dye (to show up your lymph drainage) but that is actually a different injection & is going to happen tomorrow at the same time as my operation.

I then had to massage my boob for about ten minutes so the tracer liquid could move quickly through my system & as soon as it was draining properly they were able to start taking images (a process known as lymphoscintigraphy). I was still lying on the table when a radioactive slate was put underneath me and I was moved forward under a large camera. They took 3 photos, 1 on top, one slightly to the left and one to the side. The images are taken to show which nodes are receiving the liquid, which in turn indicates where the sentinel lymph node (SLN) is, so that the surgeon knows where to find it tomorrow. They then marked me under my armpit with an X again to assist the surgeon with locating the SLN tomorrow. The tracer liquid also means the surgeon can use a Geiger counter type thing during the operation to assist in the node finding.

Then I was free to go. Next blog post I'll have had the WLE.......

Pretty card from Hannah:

Pre Op Assessment

Today I had my Pre Op Assessment. I wasn't really sure what this would entail but apparently it is something everyone has before they have any type of surgery to ascertain that they are fit and healthy enough to undergo an operation. From speaking to other people it seems that everyone's assessment is different but this is what happened in mine....

Before I had my appointment I had to fill in a questionnaire which asked me lots of questions about any operations I had had before, lifestyles, allergies and general health. When I got to my meeting at the hospital they went through my questionnaire, weighed me, measured my height, tested my blood pressure, took my pulse, swabbed my groin and up my nose for MRSA and they also explained what would be happening in my operation next week. They also tried to take my bloods but my veins weren't behaving so after a few attempts I was sent over to phlebotomy where they managed to do it straight away using a Butterfly Needle. I am going to ask for those all the time in future rather than be a pin cushion!

Good News

Hoooooooooooray!!

Today I went to the surgeon to discuss the results of last weeks' MRI & mammogram to see whether I would need an MX or a Wide Local Excision (aka WLE). When we last met (because of the microcalcifications that were present when I was first diagnosed) they were erring towards the MX. However, chemotherapy has worked its magic :) I appear to have had 'a complete radiological response to chemotherapy' so the whole MDT are really pleased & I am now having a WLE instead.

Am booked in for surgery on 18th December, so although I'll feel tired for Christmas, at least it won't be the larger operation they were contemplating. Does mean I will need around 3 weeks of radiotherapy in Guildford every day (100 mile round trip) starting sometime in January, but that'll be another road bridge to cross when I come to it....

Little postcard from Han     

Exciting Delivery

Look what I got in the post...

It's an invite to my own Hen Party in March at Gleddoch House Hotel - very, very exciting!!

Getting Published

A few weeks ago I was really pleased to be contacted by Macmillan, who on having read this blog, asked me write a one-off guest post for their Community News Blog.

It was published today on Macmillan's website and on their Facebook page :) It has already been seen, shared and liked by many, many people. Hopefully it will help other people going through what I did to feel more prepared and not so alone. (Feeling dead chuffed!)

Brighton Young Women's Forum

I have just come back from 2 fantastic days in Brighton at Breast Cancer Care's Younger Women's Forum.  It’s ten years since Breast Cancer Care held the first Younger Women’s Forum. They run six forums a year around the UK, each bringing together around 30 women under the age of 45 for two days of tailored information, support and sharing experiences. Before I went I was pretty apprehensive. The thought of signing up for two days away from home with a group of strangers, whilst dealing with treatment for breast cancer, didn't exactly fill me with joy. I had visions of everyone sitting around being miserable and making other people feel low. I also had silly visions of everyone taking their wigs off in a Roald Dahl's The Witches stylée! In the end I made the decision to go (and I'm bloody pleased that I did).

So What Was It All About?
I had made friends in advance with a couple of girls on Facebook (via a Young Women's Group) and arranged to meet one of them, Nicola, at Brighton station. We grabbed a taxi together to the Old Ship Hotel, and went into the reception room where we were given our name tags which also said our locations on. It was nice to see a few other girls from the Sussex area, and we had a quick chat before moving upstairs to the main room where we would be located for the next 2 days.

One of the women running the forum explained how everything would work and then we went into our first session which entitled "Medical Update - Management of Breast Cancer in Younger Women". It was very interesting and we could ask any questions we wanted. After that we had lunch and I met a lovely girl called Amie.

After lunch there were various Break Out Groups covering the following topics:

• Breast Surgery & Reconstruction
• Menopausal Symptoms
• Relationships & Communication

You opted one to go to of the sessions and then there was an hour's information session on your chosen topic.

We then had a refreshment break before moving into a Well-Being Session of either:

• Laughter Yoga
• Relaxation

I chose relaxation and had a great session where I almost fell asleep as I was so relaxed!

After the Well-Being Sessions there was free time for a couple of hours before we came back to the main room to watch a mini film. The video was celebrating 10 years of the Younger Women's Forum and featured women who had previously attended the forums.

After the film, we went down to the main restaurant for dinner which was followed by drinks and gossiping in the bar :)

The next day we started with a session about the different services provided by Breast Cancer Care (you can find more out about the services by following this link) which was really interesting as there were a fair few I hadn't heard of before.

After that we went into Break Out Groups again. This time the topics covered were:

• Intimacy & Sexuality
• Fertility After Treatment
• Lymphoedema

After a break, we moved onto a session on Healthy Eating & Diet myths which was really interesting, there are so many things going round about Dairy, Sugar, Soya etc. It was good to be informed so that I could make my own decisions.

We had lunch, and then moved onto a session from 3 speakers who had been affected by bc in some way. One was a lady who now volunteers with BCC, one was a man whose wife sadly passed away from bc and as such he is now a prolific fundraiser for BCC, and another was a lady who had been to the Brighton Forum last year and gave us a chat on "Moving On".

After that we had a session on exercise where we were given some information, and then we had to get up and actually do some exercise!

Then the forum was over :( It absolutely flew by and was brilliant. We all exchanged email addresses and have since set up a Facebook group to stay in touch with each other.

Some of the group from the BCC Brighton Forum

If anyone is in a similar position to me and is thinking whether or not to go to the forum, please do. It was fantastic. The whole thing (including the hotel and all meals) is completely free (funded by BCC) and what an amazing lifeline it is.

The MRI

Today I went to East Surrey Hospital for my après chemo MRI. It suddenly occurred to me whilst I was in the MRI waiting room, that if you haven't had one before, then the prospect of it must be pretty blimming daunting (& to be honest, it still is fairly horrid even if you have had one before).

So, although I had had an MRI before, it was right at the beginning of this rollercoaster, and to be honest with you, I couldn't really remember what had happened. I thought therefore, it would be a good idea to explain exactly what happens, to try to alleviate some potential fears.

Firstly, what is an MRI? Well, according to Wikipedia, an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) is a way of seeing the body's internal structures in extreme detail.

An MRI scanner is a device in which the patient lies within a large, powerful magnet where the magnetic field is used to align the magnetization of some atomic nuclei in the body, and radio frequency fields to systematically alter the alignment of this magnetization. This causes the nuclei to produce a rotating magnetic field detectable by the scanner—and this information is recorded to construct an image of the scanned area of the body. Magnetic field gradients cause nuclei at different locations to rotate at different speeds. By using gradients in different directions 2D images or 3D volumes can be obtained in any arbitrary orientation.

MRI provides good contrast between the different soft tissues of the body, which makes it especially useful in imaging the brain, muscles, the heart, and cancers compared with other medical imaging techniques such as computed tomography (CT) or X-rays. Unlike CT scans or traditional X-rays, MRI does not use ionizing radiation.

To start with, you are sent your MRI appointment letter and given a questionnaire (similar to this one) to fill in.

When you turn up at the MRI department, the image radiographers explain what is going to happen. I was told that I would be inside the MRI for around 20 minutes - but I have read in some cases people can be in the tube for around an hour, so it must vary from person to person.

Then then asked me to strip down to my pants, pop on two gowns, and remove all metal objects. This means you need to take off all jewellery (including your watch) and then put them into a locker.

After that I had to get onto the bed and they told me they were going to put a cannula into a good vein. It took them a while to find one, but they eventually found a good one in my hand. The cannula was put in because I was having what is known as an MRI with contrast, where half way through the scanning I would be flushed with dye. (What the dye basically does is enhance scan images).

I was then led through to the MRI room where the scanner was (East Surrey have this year had a new £750,000 MRI scanner installed which is unique in the UK) & they put a marker (which looked like a cod liver oil capsule!) on the side of my breast.

This is what an MRI scanner looks like:

I was then asked to open my gowns, lie face down on the table (which looks like one of the ones you find in spas when you're having a massage) & position my boobs. The compartments I had to put my boobs into can only be described as feeling like the salad drawers in the fridge!

I then had a huge pair of headphones (no music, just to block out the noise) placed on my head, given a buzzer to squeeze if I felt I needed to, and told to lie very still. This is probably a good point to remind you to use the toilet before you have your MRI as you can't move during it, and needing a wee isn't very conducive to staying still!

I then had a cushion out under my legs which the automatically inflated & asked me to position my arms above my head. The table then automatically moves you backwards into the scanner & it begins. I can't tell you if it was dark or not because I was facing downwards & I kept my eyes shut the whole time. I had to also keep reminding myself to breathe as I found I was holding my breath!

The noises are very loud and sound almost electronic or like computer game sounds. They are also not rhythmic and are different lengths & frequencies, so rather than listen to them, I tried to just block them out by thinking of other things. I found this YouTube video helped prepare me for what it would sound like.

About half way through the MRI radiographers spoke to me, asked if I was okay and then explained I was going to be having a scan which would last about 8 minutes. That happened and then they spoke again & told me they were going to automatically start the dye going in. The dye felt cold up my arm but nothing else. Then I had around another 15 minutes of scans and it was finished.

The table then releases you from the scanner & the radiographers sit you up very slowly (as my legs had gone to sleep). They then took the cannula out of my hand, I got dressed and (after being told to drink lots of water to flush the dye from my system) I was free to go.

The thought of the MRI is definitely worse than being inside it but I'm still very glad it's over and done with.