HIP HOP IN THE MRI MACHINE

 HIP HOP IN THE MRI MACHINE

At least once in your life, when you get sick, the doctor will send you to these wonderful medical machines where you get an X-ray, or an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging.) Both are essential for you proper diagnosing and [ultimately], your treatment and recovery. I have had plenty of these done for various organs -- from the brain to the foot. 

There is nothing to fear about an X-ray, just follow the directions of the technician. I wish I knew in the past there was such a medical technician position. I am so fascinated with these machines and their ability to see and read through you. They just show it as it is. The radiologist  examines the results and off you go to the next step.

While writing the blog post, I got interested in who were the brilliant minds behind the X-Ray and the MRI. This was how I ended up with the phenomenal discoveries of Mme. Marie Curie. 

Every time I get an X-ray from now on, I will think of the unique brain of the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the only woman to win it in 2 fields (physics and chemistry), and the only person to win it in multiple sciences. Pretty impressive! 

Years later, an American medical practitioner, Ramond Damadian created the first MRI scanner. What were we going to do without these machines and the simple stethoscope? We would have been totally doomed....

X-rays are blocked by these parts of the body which are dense. That is why on your X-ray you see these areas as white. Muscles and fluid appear as gray. I never discussed with a doctor how fat would appear.... 

MRI is a different matter. In this big tunnel, you have to stay still, but it is worth every second of it. This machine uses large magnets and radio waves (instead of X-rays) to look into your body and its organs. The MRI includes a computer to create a picture of the part of the body under medical "suspicion." This is what I need for my brain, back, for discovery of tumors, for whatnot. 

The MRI is painless but noisy, very noisy. Earplugs are not enough. headsets are a little better option. I wish I knew that in advance. The last time I had an MRI, I was offered a headset, then nicely asked what music I would like to listen to. Of course, my first thought was rock 'n' roll. I grew up and grew old with it. I was ashamed to say "Deep Purple" or "Led Zeppelin." I was antsy enough; I did not want to delay the test until "my music" was found. But I also thought of hip-hop. "Hip-Hop" it is," said the technician and started the test.

You may wonder "Why all this talk for some music in the MRI machine?" My answer is to make you not choose "Beethoven", or Mozart, or any classical music. It will not relax you; trust me on this. You will not be meditating in this machine. You need hip hop and rock 'n' roll. It is the enhanced noise to give you the "I got your back feeling. You see yourself dancing, not stuck in a machine. At least, this is how I felt.

Image courtesy of farconville/FreeDigitalPhotos.com

After I was done, I still felt the adrenaline pumping through my veins. Maybe, one more hip hop MRI was medically necessary. Ha, ha!!!