Today Was MRI Day!

Today I had my very first MRI. If you're one of the thousands who follow my blog you know that last Friday I suffered an injury to my left knee when a ladder I was working on slipped from beneath me. Remember - I didn't fall off the ladder. The ladder slipped. After five days of sitting in the same recliner with a gigantic ice pack on my knee watching endless old movies on the Turner Classic Movie channel, I finally got in to see an orthopedic surgeon yesterday afternoon. After some x-rays and range of motion tests his preliminary diagnosis is a torn meniscus, to be verified by an MRI.

INTERESTING ASIDE: During my movie marathon I watched several movies from the 1930's and 1940's. It was amazing to see how many people in these movies were also in either or both the Wizard of Oz and/or It's a Wonderful Life. I'm not talking about the stars, I'm talking about the people who had between one and twenty lines. The reason I probably noticed this is because I've seen each of these movies at least thirty times.

AND NOW BACK TO THE MRI STORY -

I was hoping to get my MRI as early as possible today, but due to a variety of circumstances it didn't happen until 5:30 this evening. The big event took place at the new St. Luke's Hospital in Sugar Land. If you've never been to the new St. Luke's Hospital in Sugar Land you're missing out. This place is a palace! I felt like I was waiting in someone's gigantic upscale living room. I've decided that one reason health care is so outrageously expensive in the this country is at least partially due to places like the new St. Luke's Hospital in Sugar Land. I wonder what percentage of the cost of my $1,12o.oo MRI went to pay for all of the couches, easy chairs, marble tile and fountains in the lobby? I wonder what Obama-care thinks about such frivolous luxuries?

Regardless of the excessive opulence, everyone at St. Luke's was very cordial and helpful. I was dreading being fully inserted into the MRI tube and was extremely relieved when the sliding thing stopped with most of my head still sticking out. I was surprised that before kicking things off the technician gave me some ear plugs because he said the machine was "a little noisy". A little noisy? For thirty minutes it sounded like the opening guitar riff in the Beatles song Revolution, played at volume 95, accompanied by Superman pounding on the side of the tube with a sledge hammer. But, in spite of this I still managed to doze off a few times. I hope I didn't move in my sleep and mess things up.

The next step in my healing process is for the othro doctor to read the MRI and decide if surgery will be required to fix things. If there's no need for surgery he told me that all I'll need will be a cortisone shot to reduce the swelling and get rid of the fluid build up. The possibility of a cortisone shot took me back to a time about twenty years ago when I hurt my shoulder lifting an over stuffed suitcase into the trunk of my car. I got a cortisone shot for that. I remember two things about that shot - 1) it immediately cured the pain almost as if my magic, and 2) it was so painful that it took me about fifteen minutes to fully regain consciousness after I stopped crying.

Prior to my MRI adventure Vicki and I spent about four hours at Second Mile stuffing 1,500 envelopes with their annual end of the year appeal for money. If you've contributed to Second Mile in the past you can expect your letter in the next day or two!

Tomorrow we have big day planned, which will include a gourmet breakfast at Bob's Taco Station, followed by a visit to the $1.00 store in Richmond, followed by seeing the movie The Blind Side. Tomorrow will be huge!