Hello fellow ANers,
I been a wild 5yr ride since 2007. Last week was my annual MRI scan with my annual followup with Dr. Chang in mid October next month. Well, these annual MRI have been nothing but stressful for me and I have been on this watch and wait schedule since 2010 (potential for regrowth on the left side and possible something on the right side, meaning NF2). 2011 results last year was "we'll continue to wait and see". So last week at the MRI center, I had my scan done. It was somewhat a painful event. They put on these headphones for music and then slid the cage around my head to keep it snug and then slid me into the chamber. The brace was pretty tight and felt like my head was in a vice grip. It was uncomfortable but not completely unbearable, so I didn't hit the panic button. I should have said something to the tech about it. I left there with a CD of the images and a slight headache. Imagine wearing a hat that was two sizes to small. That's how my head felt. They said that they would get the scans and result to my Dr. Chang.
Friday was cloudy, rainy and all around gloomy outside. It was a quiet day at the office, so I popped in the CD to look at the scan. I am no nuerologist, but I've been looking at my scans for 6 years now and felt like I had some sense of what I was looking at. The more I looked, the more depressed I got. I had convinced myself that the news would not be good, not at all. At one point, I had to just exit the photos and set them aside. I went home that night and talked to my wife. We were both depressed, but decided there was nothing we could do about it. The result would be in the Lord's hands. That night we went out to a nice dinner at Pappadeaux and ending the evening praying together. I awoke Saturday feeling better and not having the massive headache from Friday. All weekend, I tried not to think about the MRI anymore, but morbid thoughts of getting my house in order kept popping in my mind. Things like, make sure everything is paid off, make sure all the passwords and accounts are up to date, make sure the Will is up to date... stuff like that. I normally pray every night with my wife, usually asking for blessing and keeping me healthy and free of tumors and cancer, but this Saturday night I asked God for something alitttle different, I asked God to grant me good results and to keep me free of tumors and cancer so that I may be around to take care of my wife, my family, and others. They needed me. I prayed for them, not me.
Today, I was out at lunch when the Dr.'s office called. I sat there in the parking lot, ready for the news. The nurse said, Dr. Chang reviewed the MRI and said that there was no signs of the AN and all looked good. I was in shock. I asked her are you absolutely sure, maybe were you were calling someone else. She said, nope, Dr. Chang said your scans were good, no signs of AN and we will see you in October for your appointment. Still in shock, I asked the nurse if I could conference call in my wife on this call. She repeated the same news with my wife on and you could feel the load lift from both our shoulders. My wife was on the line crying while I sat there in the parking lot, tears of joy flowing down my cheeks. Giving thanks to the Lord from this wonderful news.
If I could take off the rest of the day, I would have. I came back to the office and was so happy that I had to share the news here with my fellow ANers...
What is the takeway from my long message? No matter how many MRIs you've taken, don't think you know what you are looking at. In fact, don't look at them. Let the professionals do their job.
I pray everyone on here has good outcomes... Thank you all for reading.
