I’m Going Through Withdrawals (Proof from my MRI and CT Scans)
This quarantine hasn’t been easy on anyone. We have all had graduations, birthdays, concerts, sporting events, etc. stolen from us in 2020. There hasn’t been much entertainment in terms of entertainment, nor thrills provided in our lives. Some of us have managed to find some solace throughout this lockdown with a trip to a lake or vacation to a place with more lenient restrictions. I have personally been bunkered down at home in a rather calm state. I didn’t really notice my withdrawal symptoms of my normal life until recently undergoing an MRI and CT Scan.
First, let me explain why I underwent both the MRI and CT Scan. I suffered an absolutely gruesome knee injury while attempting to perform the most athletic of feats. As I stated on Monday’s blog, I was born with a fair amount of athletic ability, so a star-caliber athlete wouldn’t ever hurt themselves doing something stupid (especially not twice within the last year). There I was, first time attempting to bunkered down state to enjoy a safe, keeping our social distance, day at the beach with a handful of friends. What’s a fun game to play at the beach? Spikeball. Yes, I hurt my knee playing Spikeball. Am I proud to admit it? No. Is it better than fracturing my wrist while skating to class earlier in the year? Also, no. Am I an idiot? Very much so.
Apparently, playing Spikeball may not be the safest thing in the world for anyone with an insane athletic ability and flexibility. As I went to move for the ball, I felt a pop in my left knee and was rendered unable to walk. Luckily, my friend Justin had a lukewarm ice pack to place on my leg which helped so so much. My initial (predicted) diagnosis was either set to be either a sprained patella tendon or torn lateral meniscus, but I wouldn’t know until I got the experience of a quarantine-lifetime getting my MRI done.
I was a tad bit nervous for my 7AM MRI. I knew that it wasn’t going to be anything too extreme, but I had never had one done before, so I was a tad antsy. The radiologist helping me with my MRI was a sweet, older African American lady. Before I laid down, she asked me if I’d like to listen to any music while I got the MRI. I was about to say no, when I figured “eh why not” and asked her what kind of music they had? She was basically putting the headphones away, her jaw dropped about halfway and I realized that I’m the weird guy who actually asks for music. She said “anything and everything” so I thought it best to keep it simple and just asked her to throw some Kanye on. I laid down, headphones on, and the procedure began.
Laying there I heard the whirring of the machine begin. I closed my eyes and waited for the smooth, angelic-ness of Kanye West’s music to caress my ears. As I closed my eyes, I got transported to some sort of shitty, head-banging EDM set. It was somewhere between a “let’s get out of here” hot, sweaty, warehouse rave and a “meh I guess there’s no one else playing” Sahara Tent set (leaning more towards the warehouse rave). It literally sounded like I was at some sort of music show and I began to think of all the concerts that I had planned to go to. I had begun to feel a tad bit sad. Just then, the build up
started from the whirring and my sweet radiologist said, “YO WHAT THE FUCK IS UP LITTLE COMPANY OF MARY?! IF YOU’RE HERE WITH YOUR BEST FRIENDS IN THE WHOLE WORLD RIGHT NOW LET ME HEAR YOU MAKE SOME FUCKING NOOOIIIIIIIIISSSSSEEEEEE” and then dropped “ALL OF THE LIGHTS” in my ear canal. I couldn’t help but let out a smile and make some fucking noise. Kanye now blasting in my ears with the MRI machine dropping some odd EDM edit behind it. All was beginning to feel right in the world. She then played Kendrick’s Money Trees for some odd reason, but I wasn’t mad at it; followed by Kanye’s Famous. When all was done she came back into the room and apologized for not really being sure how to work the music. I wiped a joyous tear from my eye, placed my finger over her lips and calmly whispered “shh you did just fine”. She told me I was weird and should probably go.
I shrugged off the MRI experience as just a fluke. Obviously I was missing going to music festivals and concerts. It’s something that I look forward to doing all year. I was fully aware what I experienced was like dressing up like Spiderman for Halloween and idiotically trying to shoot real webs, then running into Tom Holland. Also, it’s not Halloween, you’re just a moron who thinks he looks cool in a Spiderman costume. Tom Holland’s a nice guy though so he just gives you a high five, leading you to believe that maybe the Spidey-suit wasn’t such a bad idea. Tom shouldn’t enable you like that. Next, I got my CT Scan and knew these withdrawal symptoms were inescapable.
This office either asked for me back because I was such a pleasure to have around the medical center the first time or there is actually a more complex issue afoot. I found out right away when this different radiologist grabbed the headphones and chucked them inside her office as soon as we walked in (probably a more complex issue). She told me that there’d be no music today and I got sad, but I didn’t know the other fun that was waiting in the wings. I laid back and she revved up the CT Scanner. Again, I closed my eyes and was again transported, but this time into the seat of a roller coaster at an amusement park. I suppose that they needed to get an image of a larger portion of my leg than just the left knee because the seat was FLYING back and forth every couple seconds for a solid 5 minutes. I felt as if I was on Tatsu as the bed propelled me around. I let out a smile again, just as I had with the MRI prior. I could hear the radiologist mutter “yeah Beth was right. This poor guy is a weirdo”. This time over the intercom she just told me that I could leave and to make a left and a right out to the lobby. I didn’t care or feel an ounce of shame, I’d just undergone the second quarantine-experience of a lifetime.
How does one man manage to soak up all the joys that quarantine has to offer? It doesn’t seem fair that I should be so lucky. I wanted to be able to take a little slice of that rush I was able to experience and give it to the world, but I knew I could not. It’s a blessing and a curse to have been able to undergo those procedures and not truly share the experience, but I hope my words could bring some of the sensations to you. That is the true meaning of why I needed to share these experiences with you. I hope you all have great rest of your weeks knowing that you cannot experience anywhere near the same level of joy as me.
Oh and in case you were wondering the diagnosis of my injuries:
and I tore my lateral meniscus and a permanent 1.5 mm depression in my tibial plateau which is something that could lead to lifelong injuries that could plague me or could possibly need surgery in 6 weeks. WOOHOO GO NICK!!
On a more serious note, sarcastically writing about not being able to share with the world reminds me that a lot of people around the world truly aren’t as fortunate as we are. I encourage you to donate what you can, if you can, to any charities you wish to support. Here is a link to some of my favorites: https://www.givewell.org/charities/top-charities
Songs played while writing:
A-Trak & Ferreck Dawn — Coming Home
Eric Prydz — Opus [Album]
Bon Iver — 22, A Million [Album]
Tame Impala — The Slow Rush [Album]
