In November 25, 2013, I fell on the sidewalk just outside my home here. Fell smack hard on my left shoulder. It hurt, bad. So there I sat for a few minutes to catch my breath, wondering if I had broken my arm but the pain was in my shoulder. So I looked around, wondering how to get up as I was flat on my butt & so I thought about crawling to the side of the house, only about 2 feet away, to hold onto the corner to get up but knew that my knees would not be able to crawl, even a short distance. I could have slid there as the sidewalk was icy which accounted for my fall in the first place. Then I looked around, I decided to slide to the snow beside the walk, kneel in the snow as it wouldn't as hard as concrete & then I would try to get up. Ok, had it all planned out & then I heard a vehicle coming down the street & I thought - Well, maybe if I don't move, they'll think I'm a tree & drive on by but no such luck, the nice young man stopped & called - Mrs. Unrau. Mrs. Unrau, are you OK? Somehow, I didn't think that my usual reply to being called " Mrs. Unrau" would quite appropriate at the time! Have never responded well to being called "Mrs. Unrau" even after 40 some years & my usual reply is " She's up in Heaven." meaning my husband's mom so then I so very politely replied to the nice young man that I was ok & just needed some help getting up which he did without grunting & groaning with the effort he needed to get me on my feet. He was very polite.
Long story short, Albert did take me to the ER & I had some Xrays taken & was told nothing was broken but if the shoulder was still giving me problems, I should come back in 2 weeks. Well, the shoulder was still bothering me & it was January before I got to see a doctor who ordered a MRI which was scheduled for the end of March. I asked to be put on the cancellation list & I got a call one afternoon at the end of February. I had only about 45 minutes notice which was a good thing as I am claustrophobic & even the thought of a MRI had me gasping for breath. I did tell my Dr. about my fear & had received a prescription for an anxiety relaxing drug.
So I went to BTHC with a bottle of 5 magic pills in my clenched fist. Was just very happy that Albert was around to take me & drive me & sit with me in the waiting room. Before I even got to the MRI department, my level of anxiety was fairly high due to my being at the dentist in the morning for a cleaning which takes time as my teeth seem to attract a fair amount of "junk" & the hygienist seems to need to scratch & dig & polish for an excessive amount of time! The MRI department at BTHC is just around the corner from the ER so walking past the hallway where the Family Room is where we received the news that our son & grandson had died in the Aug. 8th accident & also walking past the ER room where I saw Albert before he was transported via ambulance to Winnipeg raised my stress to a whole new level at that point.
I registered at the desk & told the lady about the meds I had & she checked the bottle & told me to take one pill & so I did. I was called into the MRI room after I changed into a gown & had waited for about 30 minutes. I didn't really look at the MRI machine very much as I thought that maybe the less I knew the better. The technician got me strapped into the stretcher & tried to make me as comfortable as they could & & then the stretcher started moving me head first into the tunnel. I wasn't in halfway when I took one look up & my nose nearly touched the top of the tunnel & I yelled " I can't do this!" The bed reversed very fast & the technicians got me up just as fast. So I said that I would take another pill & I actually took 2 more & I found a recliner to sit & try to relax. About 10 minutes later, the relaxing part wasn't going so well, so I poped another pill. When the technicians came for me about 40 minutes later, I was pretty relaxed & not feeling anxious in any way & with alot of prayer, I did successfully complete the MRI.
I had a very relaxing evening & first napped for about an hour after I got home & then went to bed around 8:30.
Having a MRI has always been one of my huge fears & with prayer & 4 magic little pills, I conquered my fear.
