Posts Tagged ‘Health’

|

MRI Is Worth a 1,000 Words©2011 Lynn Rebuck

Wednesday, March 9th, 2011

deep-brain-stimulation-6[1]I had an MRI last week. MRI stands for magnetic resonance imaging and is a diagnostic study ordered by physicians. It is a medical exam that performs two functions simultaneously. First, an MRI provides a detailed visual rendering of the body much like going through airport security only you have to take off much more than your shoes and you will not be rewarded with a bag of peanuts. Second, it informs the physician as to whether a patient is claustrophobic or not.
The patient is asked to recline on a narrow pad which slides into the imaging device, a machine featuring a metallic tube slightly larger than a human and which makes a loud, impatient tapping noise.
“Can they do this study with an open MRI?” I asked while the tech slid me headfirst into the machine.
“This machine is open at the other end,” he replied.
If I had eyes at the top of my head, that knowledge would have been helpful. I now know how a torpedo feels. It didn’t help to overhear the tech say I was then “locked and loaded.”
I believe there are few people who are comfortable inside of an MRI machine and most of them are shot out of cannons routinely. It dawned on me that the last time I was in a space so narrow I was being born.
The MRI uses large powerful magnets to alter the alignment of the nuclei in one’s body. I was hoping that by the time they were done rearranging my atoms I would come out looking like Angelina Jolie.
Once the patient is in place the (more…)

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Column | No Comments »

Mall Walking a Stretch © 2010 Lynn Rebuck

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

WomanblueshpngbagRather than invest in a costly fitness club membership in order to lose weight, this month I started mall walking.

So far I have lost three pounds and $378.  And that was only the first week. Today I “hit the wall” and my credit limit at the same time. (more…)

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Column, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

|