When One of “Those” Days Hit, Hold On!

Yesterday was one of “those” days, when who you try to be is tested nearly beyond your ability to persevere. I was scheduled for a cardiac MRI, and I was told the test would take an hour. I know that sometimes things happen and the time gets extended through nobody’s fault, but yesterday, it took five hours!

My ability to cope and remain happy-go-lucky was stretched to almost the breaking point. As I waited on the bench in the changing room, the minutes ticked away. I was told that there was a wait for someone to come and adjust my pacemaker for the procedure. Only one person was available, and he was elsewhere in the hospital and couldn’t leave.

Then, we had to wait for an IV nurse, for my veins are small and they run, so not every nurse can work with me. I tell them immediately that I need their best, for I was once stuck six times trying to put an IV in for a procedure. Finally, a very nice male nurse came who specialized in my kind of veins. He only took two tries, and I would have married him if we had both been single!

Two and a half hours after the supposed start of the test, we were ready. I am not claustrophobic, but as I entered the machine yesterday, with oxygen flowing through a nose apparatus, I felt overcome quickly. I had to remind myself constantly that the test only lasted 45 minutes, and that I was not in danger of dying.

The part that nearly sent me to the psychiatric ward was that no one had told me that when the medication was administered through the IV, It would hurt like the dickens! I was not prepared for the excruciating pain that took over my left arm and seemingly my whole body.

Because of my small veins, the medicine had to be administered slower than they liked, which prolonged the feeling of my heart racing, and then they had to give me another medicine to stop the first reaction. By the time the test ended, I wanted to scream! My hand and lower arm were swollen, and the nurse told me that it would take about three days to a week to get back to normal.

After 5 hours, we were ready to leave the hospital. Douglas had to be at work at 2:00, and as my appointment was at 9:30, we had planned to be back home by 11:30. We did not get home until 2:45, and he still had a 45-minute drive to work. Thankfully, as he had called in and related the problem and his attendance record is practically spotless, he was okay.

I told my daughter that I had experienced the medical test from Hell! Yet, I managed to remain calm through it all, and did not complain about the wait. I know it’s not the technicians’ fault, and that they want things to be smooth. They kept on apologizing for the waiting, and I appreciated their concern for me.

The test was needed before I could have the defibrillator installed on Tuesday. I have survived worse, believe me! John 16:33 states, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

I have learned that through faith and trust in God, that when “those” days hit, you just have to hold on and know you will get through it all. They will pass, and sanity will rule again in our lives.

Ragtag prompt is Bench. Your Daily Prompt is Region.