I had two appointments scheduled for yesterday. The second of those was for an MRI of my brain, looking for abnormalities that might explain my recent development of a seizure disorder. Bottom line: No abnormalities. No tumors, lesions, or evidence of prior stroke.
I was very concerned about this, for a couple of reasons. One, I am fairly claustrophobic, and this wasn’t to be an open MRI. Second, I had felt that brain tumor was a very real possibility, with all that entails. Just knowing they’re looking for that is scary. I’ve known since January 6 that this MRI was pending. That’s a long time to wonder about brain abnormalities. I’m continually surprised by how long you have to wait for these kind of diagnostic tests.
I arrived at the MRI center early. I’d completed my gender center appointment, and gotten my blood drawn, fairly quickly. It was just past 10:00 am, for a 12:30 pm appointment. They worked me in between other appointments, despite my stated willingness to wait until my scheduled time. A nurse put in my IV for the contrast material. Then I went back to the waiting room until I was called for the actual MRI.
The technician running the MRI was kind, caring, and respectful. She of course knew I was transgender, and could tell I was wearing a wig. She politely asked if I had any metal clips or combs in the wig. I didn’t, so I kept it on for the procedure. She suggested that I keep my eyes closed throughout the procedure, to help with the claustrophobia. I’d had a friend suggest the same thing earlier, and wow did that make a difference. Between that, and the daytime drowsiness from the seizure medication, I was able to keep the claustrophobia under control.
The technician also offered neck and knee supports, which helped with the discomfort attendant to lying flat on a hard surface. Still, I was in a good bit of pain by the time the procedure was done. Something had definitely triggered a fibro flare. How much of that flare was due to the MRI process, versus exposure to the cold weather while walking across campus to the MRI center, is anyone’s guess.
I really liked the technician. She made what is a very stressful situation much easier. My only negative is that she mentioned having to take the Covid vaccine “because health care workers are spreaders” and not because she wanted it. That felt unnecessary and a bit negative. The point of bringing it up at all was to let me know that I could safely go mask-less for the procedure. Doing so did help with my comfort level. I just wish she had been more positive about how she approached that.
The neurologist called me later that evening to share the results. It’s a good thing that there were no abnormalities, but it does leave me with no explanation for the cause of my seizures. As I told a friend earlier, I think the medical profession invented the word idiopathic just for me. That’s frustrating, but the medication has helped a lot, and treating symptoms is better than continuing to experience them. While the doctor didn’t say idiopathic epilepsy, he did say that next steps are just to continue treating the seizures with medication. It seems there is nothing more to do to try to determine a cause.
Adventures Of An Aging Trans Woman 
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