Afternoon

February 12 2007

Being lowered into the MRI machine

The next step was having an MRI done with the head frame on. an MRI machine is basically a huge magnet, so the stereotactic head frame is made out of a non-magnetic material. dr. chung came along for this part of the process as i was wheeled down the corridor. the head frame was locked into place to ensure the accuracy of the images and colin was allowed to accompany me into the MRI room to reassure me. he stroked my leg the whole time. it was nice to have that human contact as i was still feeling a bit woozy and freaked out after having the head frame attached, but i didn't experience the overwhelming claustrophobia i had the first time. i had done this before, my head and neck were just uncomfortable as they were locked into a strange angle.

the funny part about this experience was that colin obviously had to remove any metal objects he had on his person and give them to my dad before entering the MRI room. now, for some unknown reason colin happened to have his little metal hashish pipe in his pocket. how was he going to give it to my dad without being busted by either my father or dr. chung? well, he managed to use 'slight of hand' and shove it into his wallet and then give the whole wallet to my dad. phew! crisis averted!

after the MRI, i was wheeled to another part of the hospital for the angiography, getting a lot of stares as i went. i was a foreigner, in a wheelchair, with weird-looking headgear on. i'm sure i was the subject of much speculation. i felt really anxious about the angiography. the last one had been horrible and now i also had to deal with the fact that i had this uncomfortable head frame on. i was put into what looked like a storage room and told i would have to wait. oh, the agony of waiting! i waited about 45 minutes, but it felt like an age. by the time i was called into the room my imagination had gone through the procedure a thousand times, each time getting worse and worse.

again, my head was locked into an uncomfortable position for the hour long procedure. the technician who performed the angiography spoke some english and tried to make me feel relaxed. i joked with him and put up a brave front, hoping that this would affect how i was feeling on the inside. it didn't. surprisingly, the angiography wasn't as awful as the first time around. it was even less painful, probably because my head frame was already causing a lot of discomfort. and compared to the pain i had just experienced that morning, having a catheter filled with scorching dye pushed through my femoral artery into my neck was a 'walk in the park'. okay, all finished.

Dad feeds me fruit
i was pushed in a gurney back to my room, complete with one kilogram sandbag on my wound, to wait for dr. chung and his team to call me for the final stage of the treatment. the actual gamma knife radio surgery. i had to wait about 5 hours lying on my back, head frame on, not allowed to move my right leg. i couldn't even watch the TV because my head frame was in the way, but at least i was finally allowed to eat and drink. so i had my father trying to push pieces of fruit through the gaps in my head frame and into my mouth. most of it ended up dribbling out of my mouth and down my neck, which colin and my father thought was hysterical, i was not feeling so amused.

the final indignity was having to pee. at national taiwan university hospital i had used a bedpan (helped by an unwilling colin ;-) but at the veterans hospital the nurse suggested a diaper. the diaper was not big enough. . . so my bedsheets and my hospital pyjamas had to be changed by the 50 year old, taiwanese cleaning lady. there seemed to be no end to the humiliation i would have to suffer that day!