We figured it would take less than a half hour, but the MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) on Lisa's leg was actually a 90 minute "study", meaning that's how long it takes the combination of waiting for the injected contrast dye (gadolinium) to metabolize by the body, and then for the machine to make I don't know how many hundreds of images. The whole process took over 2 hours at Clearview's Imaging Center. The MRI takes its images at a much finer step value than a CT or PET scan, and in three planes. What that means is that the image "slices" are just a fraction of an inch apart over that portion of the leg being examined, and it does it three times from different angles. When completed, they have much more detail than can be seen with traditional xrays or CT scans.
This wasn't an "open MRI" machine that you sometimes hear about, but instead was the traditional very tight narrow tube, and very noisy. I don't know why they couldn't just have her slide in feet first and not be fully enveloped, going in maybe to her waist, but that's not what they did. Needless to say, it was unpleasant and Lisa didn't like it, but they gave her a break partway through the process. The nurse/radiography staff there are very understanding and helpful.
Because it took so long and was near the imaging center's Friday afternoon closing time, I wasn't able to get a disc of the images and have to wait until Monday, so I'll just do it when we're back at the Cancer Institute for our oncologist appointment, when we'll also get the interpretive report findings that tell us if this is a spread of the lung cancer, or hopefully something unrelated and trivial.
Michael
