Follow-up on metal in the eye

Well, I had my x-ray yesterday and it showed no metal in the eye.

This second chain of xray, MRI, and other imaging labs had a sign-up
form that was longer than the other chain's (in addtion to the fact
that verbally they wouldn't brush off hobbyists' exposure and say it
only applied to those who worked with metal full time) .

They had a list, a longer list, of about 30 things they wanted to know
if you had, not just metal pins in bones that had been broken, and
metal staples, but if you had had one of those camera pills that you
swallow. Do those have lettle metal external antennae or lights
that can be knocked off?

And someone said it was a myth that tattoos could be a problem, but it
and permanent makeup was a question on the list. By permanent
makeup, I think they mean tattooing "eye liner" on one's eyelid. So
both halves of that question refer to tattoos.

Not every yes answer meant you couldn't have the MRI, although I think
metal in the eye did mean that, unlsss one had the metal removed.
(Although one of the questions at both chains was whether you had had
metal removed from your eye. They didn't assume that the removal got
all of it.

The x=ray tech said she HAD had people with metal in their eyes who
didn't remember getting it. That was in answer to my question about
whether it always hurt. Apparently it doesn't always hurt, maybe if
it's small.

I passed the X-ray but only lasted 5 minutes in the closed MRI. Even
though I had gotten up at 2 in the morning and was verrry sleepy, I
had on a blindfold, the tunnel on this one was larger than the other
(and I had two inches between my nose and the ceiling instead of
one**) and they had given me a valium This place used foam rubber
earplugs instead of headphones. He said I could hear him better when
he talked. Without radio as a distraction, I tried distracting
myself by counitng to 100, but I was able to mulitply while I was
counting and to use up a half hour it seemed I would have to count to
1800, and since I was counting fast, probably 3600.

I made a mistake assuming they would use headphones. The first chain
had different kinds of music available, plus FM radio (every station
their off-the-air radio could receive I suppose) and probably AM
radio. It's conceivable they had web radio, but otoh, they didn't
ask me what I wanted at all, and at that first place, I brought it up
when I was taking my clothes off, so I suspect it's just over the air
radio there. I think one should ask in advance so that if they do
have webradio, he can come prepared with the url. . . (It turns out
that on 88.1, at that time, they were talking about Edison and making
the light bulb. That's so good I'll have to find it online. It would
have been a much better distraction than ear plugs.)

He thought the doctor might give me a stronger sedeative (Atavan?)
and said they had a semi-open machine that classified as a closed
machine. I"m not sure he's right but he gave me the machine make and
model.

As it stands now, this will make it harder if not impossible for the
orthopedist to know how to treat the pain in my back. (I wonder if
this has to do with buying another car 18 months ago, or if flipping
the mattress would help, or maybe I should move my computer back to
my desk and stop using a keyboard and mouse on a tv t able. I changed
that about 20 months ago. .)

**Maybe I shouldn't have asked for a second pillow, or even a first,
but lying on my back without a pillow is another thing I have trouble
doing. I sleep on my belly or my side, and occasionally fall asleep
almost sitting up.