Losing the plot

I had my first-ever MRI yesterday. It was an interesting experience. You lie down, they give you ear plugs and headphones and put you in a helmet-like contraption. Then you slide into the MRI machine like you’re a coffin about to be immolated. Instead of being immolated, you lie there completely motionless, clutching a little panic buzzer, as the machine plays very loud doof doof sounds for 20 minutes.

While 20 minutes might not sound like long, it felt like an eternity. Not because I’m claustrophobic, but because I’m very not good at doing nothing. When the radiologist announced over the loud speaker that I was “doing well” and only had 10 minutes to go, I was shocked because I thought I’d been in that machine for a lifetime.

I was also a bit flustered from racing up to the hospital while wearing in a face mask. I took it off just before I lay down in the machine and my face felt sooooooooooo itchy, but I couldn’t scratch it. Arrrrrrrgh.

And then I couldn’t stop watching and analyzing the radiologist’s body language. She stopped the machine at one point and stared at the screen in front of her with her hand on her face. I was sure it meant she’d seen a tumour as big as a rockmelon in my brain.

I had a bit of a headache after the MRI from the noise, but otherwise I felt pretty good. The dizziness that’s dogged me for the past week has mainly gone. I just felt a bit dodgy in the stomach from the Peruvian burgers DD and I had for dinner on Sunday night and exhausted from a few sleep-deprived nights.

The rest of the day went by in a blur as I frantically pulled together the material for a health reset program that’s launching next week for one of the websites I’m managing.

I was almost distraught by 4pm because I wasn’t even close to being finished and I needed to race out the door at 4.20pm to get the youngest to the doctor at 4.45pm. Of course, it being a doctor’s appointment, I needn’t have rushed because it was about 5.05pm when we got in to the consulting room. We left with two referrals – one for the dermatologist and one for the ENT – which filled me with sinking dread as I now have to make time to take the youngest to those appointments as she refuses to go with her father.

I have NO idea when I will have a spare moment to do things to improve my personal appearance, like colouring my hair and painting my chipped toenails.

After the doctor’s appointment I grabbed one of the youngest’s skipping team members, drove them both to practice, went to Woolies to do the weekly shop, staggered into the house with it, unpacked it all, made dinner, cleaned up and decided there was no way I was in a fit condition to do the freelance job I had scheduled for last night. It will have to wait, more apologies will need to be made for unfinished work.

To be honest, I was pretty bloody cranky by around 7pm. I literally don’t know how other single mothers do it without losing the plot. I went very close to losing the plot last night.

I’m pretty sure I was so effing furious because I was tired and over-scheduled, but someone wondered on the HouseGoesHome Facebook page yesterday if I might have a thyroid problem.

I had a chat to Dr Google about it and he thinks it’s a vague possibility.

Symptoms can include:

• Fatigue
• Increased sensitivity to cold
• Constipation
• Dry skin
• Weight gain
• Puffy face
• Hoarseness
• Muscle weakness
• Elevated blood cholesterol level
• Muscle aches, tenderness and stiffness
• Pain, stiffness or swelling in your joints
• Heavier than normal or irregular menstrual periods
• Thinning hair
• Slowed heart rate
• Depression
• Impaired memory
• Irritability

I reckon I could tick about seven of those … though, admittedly, most of the symptoms could apply to menopause as well.

But I’ll mention it to my doctor when he rings with my MRI results.

Song of the day: Bruce Springsteen “Tunnel of love”