Thoughts from a Lab waiting room

in #freewrite5 years ago (edited)
Have you ever gotten an abdominal Magnetic resonance imaging? Or as the normal people (like me) call it, an MRI.

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You know, that medical pprocedure involving a big machine where they put you inside a tube and make you wait for one hour listening to weird loud noises and you're subject to a series of vibrations at different scales, all the while having to follow breathing and movement instructions.

I had only heard about that in the TV series Dr House and the scary part is that in the show, most of the times a patient got an MRI, something went wrong, so I have to admit that while I wasn't scared, I was a bit dubious about getting one.

Well, I got one today and I gotta tell you, I'm thrilled I'm not claustrophobic nor impatient because this test was one of the longest and most uncomfortable I've had to take. It's not painful and in no way its dangerous as far as I know. It's just that I arrived at 8 am to the Lab and I spent 7 hours there. Mexican times, y'know?

I took a blood sample to get my sugar, lipids and cholesterol levels, then I went into the MRI room and spent there one hour. After that, I had to wait for around 45 minutes until I had to go inside the MRI room again to get another kind of test, one with contrast or something like that. Up until then, 12 pm I couldn't eat anything due to Lab policy, so I went to have breakfast. Two hours later I was supposed to come back to get another sugar test - you're supposed to get two, one before eating and the other one two hours after eating.

So right now I'm waiting for the two hours to go by and in the meantime, I'm writing this post.

I mean, better than to spend - or waste? - my time on the blue lame social media, right?

Thoughts from a Lab waiting room... At this point I might as well focus all my energy in getting a thoughts from a... checklist and see how many I can cross in 2019. That sounds like a cool idea. But it would have to be something I'm not actively looking for. Example I'm not going to take a plane just in spite to write a list named thoughts from a plane but if somehow I end up taking a flight this year, I will definitely get a post done.

There's a huge difference, get it?

So hey, why don't you give me some suggestions for my Thoughts from a... Checklist.

Oh, to continue my story, after getting the blood test and the MRI the nurse gave me a mission: She said Go have a breakfast like you always do, do not change your eating habits, have a normal breakfast.

Well it was going to be hard because it was already like 12:30 pm and I usually have breakfast before 9 am but still I had to try. But you know me, I´m a fat McBastard so in reality it wasn´t that hard, I was just playing my part.

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Oh yeah, that´s a Mexican breakfast as if should be. Any Mexican who has any self respect has AT LEAST that amount of food. Diabetes and Hipertension for the win.

After finishing my Mexibreakfast/lunch I realized I had to kill 2 hours so I could go to the Lab again and get the same sugar levels test but with something in my stomach. Well, movie times it is.

When I was younger I used to have a Movie Theater card that allowed me to attend any movie I wanted any day of the year as many times as I wanted for about 200 usd a month. I was a movie addict and between 2012 and 2015 I pretty much watched every movie that showcased in Mexico; I used to go alone or with my brother @zlatan-spielberg so this time, going by myself to kill two hours sounded like fun.

But there wasn´t any movie theater nearby so I decided to walk there. Before I noticed, I was more than 30 minutes into the walk and I was enjoying it so much that I chose to keep doing it. After all I´m having a #healthier2019 and part of my @actifit new year resolution was to do more excercise daily. I walked and walked for two hours...

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I covered around 7 kilometers in two hours. It´s not much but it´s honest work - did you get it? It´s a new meme. Got it? Yes? No? Oh well, I didn´t expect you to get it, it´s fairly new and I don´t get out much :(.

I even stumbled upon a Walmart and I went straight to the Toy Section to see whats new in store and if I could get a post-Christmas bargain. I didn´t, but at least I kept walking and I killed a few minutes.

IMG_20190111_140452040.jpg

I returned to the Lab and they drew blood from my left arm AGAIN. I don´t mind getting needled if I need to, but twice in one arm? Sikes Batman, that´s too much for one vein!

Anyway, this post became kind of a story instead of a Thoughts from a... kind of post but hey, you gotta understand me: I started writing it when I was in the laboratory´s waiting room, then I kept going while I was in the restaurant having breakfast and I´m finishing it at 8 pm in bed.

Oh yeah, I´m already in bed. Do you want to know why?

Well, after finishing the second round of blood tests, it was already 3 pm. My day was lost - I know it wasn´t lost but I hate wasting more than half a day in responsibilites - so I decided I wouldn´t do anything else today. I would just walk. And walk I did.

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Yeah, your eyes are not deceiving you, I walked 24,000 steps today. If google maps is not lying - God I need to get me a pace counter app - I walked a little less than 20 km today. Pretty kick ass right? Especially for someone who last year used to walk less than half a km a day.

By the way, if you want to follow my fitness activity - and get bored to death in the processs - check out my fit account called @afitsoul.

Anyway, I hope to get some feedback about that Checklist I mentioned above. I hope you liked how I narrated my day for you, even if it wasn´t the initial intention of this post :P

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Those were great thoughts from a Lab waiting room. I mean, that´s where you started writing and it´s kind of the hub where the rest is centered around.

This is quite similar to a day I had maybe 20+ years ago. I too had an awesome breakfast. Right now I am more than 24 hours without a bite to eat because of illness which struck yesterday evening. I´m finally feeling better and drinking tea but man, you´re killing me with this breakfast talk! And the picture- damn that looks good! lol

My last MRI- was abnormal. By that I mean I was served a few diagnosis after the fact, some of which was no surprise but then a bonus- the little note mailed to me by that doctor whom I had never met before (because mine was on vacation), I had to read twice (to know what it said) and process the information twice.

To get the gist of how this came across, you´d have to know this lady on face value like I had. Very busy and apparently quite special. Profoundly direct. Cut and dry, no time for sentiment or social warmth. ¨Tiger lady¨ persona.

It said ¨Douglas, you have a birth defect¨ . Whaaat?
The things you don´t know about yourself until somebody puts you in a machine that could catapult a paperclip through you if there was one within the red zone or whatever they call it. ( I was asking about minerals in my blood and such when I found this out. What if I swallowed something in my youth that never passed through? Like a little ball bearing or a quarter from drinking game days). Do technicians think about these things? I sure do.

Anyway, you took me down that road again and itś kind of interesting. Tbh, it souds like you actually had a great day. I´m inspired to get out and start walking aimlessly again.

<Jajaja me encantó tu post... Yo sé que siempre lo digo, pero es que es tan genial que "rayos" Eric, yo nunca hago nada interesante...
Debo decir varias cosas, la primera "Dr House" jajajaajj sí, he visto varios de los capítulos con el aparato de la resonancia magnética jajaj, y la otra "recuerdo haber leído tu post del avión y del aeropuerto, y casi toda tu estadía en Russia con chicas lindas... Me encantan tus escritos, envidio también tu comida y pienso en comprar algo así, pero recuerdo que estoy en Venezuela y bueno... jajajaja sé que "aún" no se puede, pero no piedo la fe de que las cosas cambiarán pronto y habrá abundancia...
La última cosa, sigo engordando, y no he comenzado ninguna rutina, ni siquiera a seguir tus post de ejercicios (aburridos según tú). Veremos como mejoramos las cosas por acá este año.
Espero no hayas perdido tanto tiempo leyéndome, si es así, te lo agradezco.Saludos @anomadsoul, te envío un abrazo desde Venezuela.
Again...
THANK YOU!

I usually have breakfast before 9 am

Well we find out something new about you all the time!!! You didn't come across as the early riser 😉

Hope all is well.

When I was in school (like from 3 years old to 18) my mom wouldn't let me go out without a proper breakfast and school started at 7, so every day I had breakfast around 6. Then when I was in corporate I arrived to my office at 730 and had breakfast at 8!

It all crumbled down at 27 when most of my schedule went rogue due to traveling, but life habits die hard!

See we're learning new stuff about you again. @anomadsoul and the corporate world 😮Whatever next??!!

Having health and fitness in mind, I would suggest:
Thoughts from a gym
Thoughts from a 5K race
Thoughts from a Salad Bar
Thoughts from a Crossfit Session

Keep up the great work!

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Ahaha those sound amazing and I'll add them to the list!

Except...

Thoughts from a CrossFit session. I'm sorry man, being a gym rat for most of my adolescent and young adult life I really hate CrossFit and I can't find the point in focusing in reps instead of form :(

Understood, but sometimes the body needs something different to mix it up! I thought the same but the cardio is crazy! At the end, anything that works is good!

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Did you pee a lot after those contrast? Seriously, an hour inside an MRI with those sounds can make one insane. Kinda interesting to know what the results will be...hit me up if you wanna talk about it.

Suggestions would be:
-thoughts when your blood sugar is too low or too high(hopefully u wont experience that!)
-thoughts when your blood pressure is down to your boots or skyrocketing(hopefully not too...)
-thoughts when your blood sugar and pressure are well controlled with a healthy diet(goodluck on this one!)
Wish you the best of health this 2019 mate!

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Glad you are not claustrophobic
I was on the verge but managed well.

Weren’t you supposed to avoid activity for 2 hrs post prandial for glucose tolerance test?
You walked 24000 steps , which is great but might interfere with results I guess.

Anyway a very well written post. Wish you good health.

Finally i was laughing on the floor when i saw what you had for brunch :)

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One time i learnt how these mri machines work. Whatvphysics involved under the hood.

Dont remember them now (

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Hi @anomadsoul!

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Oh, thanks, it was very interesting to read about your day!
Everything was interesting: your tests, and your food, and your walk! :)

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