Functional MRI

Near the end of August I had my functional MRI ("fMRI").  I knew the fMRI would be longer than a regular MRI (closer to two hours instead of one) and that I would be required to perform certain tasks during the procedure.  I had read a little bit about those tasks and tried to practice (think of as many words as possible that start with "B" and things like that).  The goal of the fMRI was to map my speech and motor skills areas of the brain, and I really wanted to get it right because talking is very important to me.

When you have an MRI, the tech tends to tell you "hold very still" and "hold as still as possible" about every 30 seconds.  These constant reminders can be nerve wracking, especially when you need to be perfectly still for two hours.  When I had my first MRI in Utah, I got to choose a Pandora station to listen to, and that helped pass the time.  At OHSU, there was no Pandora station.  There was no comfort of any kind.  Instead, the tech put towels around my head, making it harder to breathe.  So, in the course of trying to hold perfectly still, I started to get claustrophobic.  Eventually I had to tell the tech that I needed to come out of the tube.  She gave me a hard time and wouldn't let me move, but at least she removed the towels.  I also told her that I am a perfectionist and every time she told me to hold still, I felt like I was messing up.  I told her that, instead, she needed to tell me I was doing a great job and also tell me how many minutes each sequence would be so I wouldn't feel stuck indefinitely.  Those two changes helped a lot.  (And guess what?  The OHSU cancer center where I now get my MRIs actually has a recording that tells you how many minutes for each scan.  And they let you listen to Pandora if you want it.)

When we finally got to the "functional" part of the MRI, I was relieved.  Now I had something to do to distract myself while the MRI machine made all of its crazy noises.  I could tap my fingers, fill in the blank for the sentences on the screen, and mentally list words beginning with any letter of the alphabet.  Finally the MRI was done, and I could go home and wait for my pre-surgery appointment about a week later.