Magnetic Resonance Imaging

....familiarly known as MRI.

Never would I have expected and imagined that I was required to do MRI. I still could not distinguish it with xrays or CT scan. To me it's all radiation. But basically it's used to envisage in detail the internal parts of our body structures for medical purpose.

When orthopedic Dato Dr Anuar Onah of SJMC spoke about the scan, I went like 'Do I have to, Doctor?'. Then his response was: Ya lah, 30 minit masuk gua. Kenapa? Are you claustrophobic?

Fine. I followed exactly what Doc had asked me to do. So I set an appointment at 8.15am, Saturday 16th April for the scan, plus x-ray too. God, all the machines at Imaging Department at SJMC look scary. So about 8.30ish, first half of my body was in the so-called 'gua'. My brother told me, as he did it before, that he was listening to music during his MRI. But no-no! My ears were plainly covered by earplug! No music, no nothing..and as a matter of fact, I still could hear the noise of that machine. The 'dong dong dong' plus some 'ZzzzZzz' vibration, made it sound like one of those Lady Gaga songs. A remix or something. So bye bye to the plan of napping in the "cave".

I could feel almost 30 minutes had past. I couldn't wait to get out from there. The custodian announced through a mic, "Cik Nurin, lebih kurang 3minir lagi ya". So ok I started counting to 180. But STILL!! I was lying straight in the machine.

MRI scan. *source

Camera/phone/watch are prohibited.

After they opened the door, I re-confirmed that it was more than 30mins. Infact it's more than 1 hour(poor hubby had to wait.. nasib baik ada angrybirds!). It's because they had to do twice, the upper & the lower part of my body.

Why I had to go through all this...? Because I have been diagnosed with scoliosis. Something that I felt embarrassed to share publicly, even with family & friends. I have been complaining backache ever since I was 19 years old. So when I went to check at one specialist near Kelana Jaya, whom I first learned about scoliosis from, he suggested that I undergo operation. But my parents disagreed.

Back in the UK, I also went to see another specialist at NHS(It was free anyway). He said, there's no need to do operation unless it really limits my movements. There are a lot of risks if one were to undergo such an operation i.e. lost of massive blood, and possibility of paralysis.

So yesterday, Doctor Anuar during the consultation (after he saw the report of MRI/X-rays) said, "Spine is all normal, no slip disc. But yes the scoliosis is there, not so serious. It's not gonna get any better. You just need to do some exercise as you will definitely get backpain unlike other normal people". He assigned me to 6 sessions of physiotherapy which should have happened since last week. But I haven't gotten the chance to speak to my boss about sessions during working hours.

He also encouraged me to swim, "20 laps a day!" was his expression. And also Yoga.

Oh yes, I have started Yoga last week at Menara Citibank. It was ok for me because I have done pilates in Sheffield during Uni days. I was impressed with my friend@colleague Chynna. Her body is so flexible, she could bend to the max all kinds of pose, and she is like that elastic girl in The Incredibles. 8 years of performing Yoga, she deserves a beautiful posture. Tabik lah!

Whatever it is, I am so blessed to have gone through this with very supportive parents, and family. To hubby, he has been encouraging me to do stretching, getting me to use his chinning bar to improve my posture/structure. Thank you so much and LOVE you all!