Strong running day but MRI whimp

The day started out pretty well. I worked from home and got quite a bit of work done. I also talked with a friend at work who was able to give me information about her experience with cancer and that was really helpful.

I had to leave at about 3:30pm to drive 45 minutes to get my "films" to take to the second opinion clinic on Wednesday. I got there quicker than expected and had finished picking up my films by 4:30.

I knew I had to hang around there for 2 hours before my MRI appointment, so I brought my running stuff. I changed and headed out to run and it was a beautiful day! The run went really well, too. I ran 3 miles at 11:04, 10:48, and 10:26 and then walked about a half mile. I was feeling really good.

Then . . . insert dramatic villian music here . . . I went to get the MRI. Don't let anyone tell you an MRI is no big deal, well, at least not a breast MRI. First, I was unaware that I had to have an IV with meds. I hate needles, but I can handle that. The needle was child's play compared to the rest. I was in there for over an hour face-down on the machine with my arms over my head. The worst thing was that my shoulders were cramping for the last half of the procedure and I had to will them to stay still and force relaxing.

I'm concerned about the MRI taking longer than advertised. I don't know if they saw something and took extra time to get a closer look or if I moved and messed up the images (though I was working really hard to not move or hardly breathe for over an hour).

Afterward, I was dizzy and had to sit down for quite awhile. It's over two hours later and I'm still not feeling quite right. My stomach is a bit annoyed too.

My parents were troopers and took care of the kids tonight. Mondays are the busiest day for us for running around, too. The kids go straight from the bus to piano to church school and then to volleyball. After volleyball, they finally get home home for dinner and homework. A crazy day! Tomorrow will be challenging for my parents too because they will be driving the kids to swim team practice which is about 40 minutes away through the city. They will be fine, though. I'm so glad they can be here to help!

Well, the day is done now and I'm tired. Time for bed. At least the MRI is done, though I'm still pretty nervous about the results. I might find out something about it on Wednesday at the second opinion clinic because I was able to get a copy of the disks (it takes two disks to save all those 3,000 images). If I don't learn the results on Wed, I will probably have to wait until Friday when my doctor is supposed to call me. Oh, please let it be good news. Or at least neutral news.

Good night, my friends.

- Kelly