Lucky Thirteen

 PART ONE:

Well, let's hope we get some news today from the MRI, after my appointment at 1300--although I suppose there will be some delay and the report will probably be sent to Dr. Gilkes. We have established the exact address, and the concierge will be able to provide a wheel chair, so we hope our arrival and reception will go smoothly. Joan is starting to check an Uber trip. So, looks like the second part of todays post will be the interesting part...the trip, the MRI, and just some possibility of an idea of what is causing the problem...

PART TWO 

Transport by Uber worked well, both going and coming back.

In the hospital, there was a lot of waiting around, and at one stage it almost seemed we would have to come back another day as the person dealing with the pacemaker was not available. But--thank goodness--that problem was solved, and the procedures commenced. First, a technician spent a long time, working from wires stuck into suction caps around my chest and belly. Apparently she was putting my pacemaker in a mode that would not be adversely affected by the MRI. When she was finished, I had to lie down, ready to go into the machine. They put plugs in my ears and then big headphones over them. Even so, the sounds were very loud at various stages of the procedures. I was about 30 minutes inside the machine, lying down, keeping still, mostly with noise of some sort in my earphones...often repetitive hammer blows.

When I was finished and dressed, the young woman who had supervised the MRI seemed to suggest that there was some clear reason why I was suffering: she talked about age, and 'things' wearing out. So God knows what form of treatment will be called for.

We see the doctor on Friday, and he will have the pictures from the MRI and the radiologist's interpretation of them.

And in the meantime, I will still have to struggle on with the problems of pain and mobility.