MRI Arthrogram, Part 1

Last week I had to get an MRI arthrogram done on my right shoulder. There is nothing to be worried about; I have had some shoulder pain since I dislocated it about two years ago when I started doing derby. I went to physiotherapist a bit then but it isn't really working so when I was at the doctor's office last week I asked about it and she said there was probably a torn piece of cartilage in my shoulder.

The MRI was basically just to see how much damage there is. I don't think it is very bad and I have almost full mobility in the joint but it would be good to know. It just hurts sometimes to sleep on that side, I can't extend my arm fully (which is bad since I teach and point at things a lot), my whips suck, and too many shoulder checks make it feel weird. Plus I figured knowing is better than not knowing, so there's also that.

The procedure is basically described in  this video. It's gross though. I guess my description of it is also gross, so whatever: 

The comments on that youtube video did NOT make me feel good going into the hosptial.

So basically I spent the afternoon getting prodded and poked by medical machinery. First I checked in and had to wear one of those giant tent gowns again, and then I was sent to radiology. I had to do a MRI first which was SO boring. I've never had a MRI done before but I've seen the tube in TV shows and stuff. What I didn't know was that you have to lie in the MRI tube thing and you aren't allowed to move at all. The technicians put a sandbag on my arm so it would be extended properly, so I couldn't move that and it was falling asleep.

And the machine is really loud. I had earplugs in but I could hear the machine banging and clicking and stuff. So I started humming songs from TV shows and whatever, and then the MRI man came on the microphone and told me to stop moving, hahahaha.

The first MRI was about 30 minutes or something. Then after that I did the Arthrogram, which was by far the worst thing I had to do at the hospital. First I did some static X Rays, so basically you just get X rays done by a technician per usual. The problem was that shoulders are hard to X ray from top down so that required getting into weird positions leaning over the X ray table or whatever. But that wasn't so bad.

Then the fluroscopy bit came next. I had to lie on an X ray table. My shoulder was "prepped" so they sterilized my skin with this blue alcohol stuff and dressed with one of those surgery cloths they have with the little hole in the middle for operating. That seemed a bit serious, but hey, this is a serious procedure.

The X ray table I was on was relaying realtime information about my bones. There was a monitor hooked up to it so while I was lying on the table, if I moved my arm I could see my arm bones on the monitor also moving. (The doctor had to wear a lead suit while doing the procedure in case you were wondering.)

X ray table. The black thing in the back is the monitor
that the doctor used for the fluroscopy. I took this photo while
we were waiting for the doctor, but I don't know about using
phones in high magnetic and radioactive environments.

 This is the gross bit, so you can skip this paragraph if you want. So I'm on the table with the X ray thingy going and my arm prepped and then I was given an anaesthetic. It was like the same feeling as when you go to the dentist and they do the anaesthteic needle for your fillings, so it felt a bit painful and fat at the same time. But once that had taken effect, the fun bit started. The doctor put a hollow needle into the shoulder joint, using the X ray screen thing for guidance. Then he put a thinner, longer needle into the cartilage in the joint via the hollow needle (which was taped down onto my shoulder). There was a tube attached to the second needle, and and he put radioactive/magnetic dye in it and injected that into my shoulder.

Needless to say, the whole time you can see it on the X ray. It was REALLY gross watching the needle go in and I almost threw up on the table. Also it hurt a bunch because it was a needle in between my bones! The medical staff were really good though; I told them I hated needles and they were really reassuring and made me feel better about the procedure when otherwise I probably would just have shit my pants.

I saw this on a car on my way out of
the hospital and thought it was appropriate.
(I didn't actually cry though, but you get the idea.)

And then after they put the dye in there were some normal X rays and then another MRI, which felt really weird because there is magnetic stuff in the dye and when I was in the MRI machine it felt like my arm was being pulled! The second MRI was shorter, maybe 25 minutes. It was still really boring. My arm was sore though, so getting it to lay still in the MRI sucked a bit.

Obviously I wasn't allowed to take pictures of the procedure while it was happening. But that's good; the mental pictures I have of seeing random shit going into my shoulder and my shoulder joints were fucking gross. Plus there was blood coming out of the needle site. I don't even know how I managed to keep swearing at a minimum.

Also, my shoulder got dyed bright blue as a result and it didn't wash off for three days. Plus I have a bruise where the needles went in. And my arm is sore.

On the upside I had cake to make myself feel better.