Contrast sucks!

I had the insurance mandated X-ray taken of my shoulder, which revealed no arthritis nor any fractures. That was a good sign, but now it was time for the MRI.

From what I heard, I would get an IV shot of gadolinium and then sit for an hour while it circulates, then I'd have the MRI of my shoulder and the contrast would show exactly what was wrong.

I head down to radiology and sign in and then wait for an hour past my appointment time when a radiology technician comes down and says that they had to confirm the contrast with my doctor and they couldn't get in touch with him.
While I had him there, I asked him how the procedure would go.

Mistake!

He tells me that I'll change, lay down on the fluoroscopy table and get contrast injected right into my shoulder after a local anesthetic.

WHAT?!

Well, no need to worry now. I went in, changed into the very stylish hospital gowns and then went in laid down on the table. I chatted with the tech and the apprentice tech who was there until the doctor came in.
I greeted him and said that I understood from the techs that he would put me under before the procedure, and he started looking at them with a WTF look on his face. I started cracking up and said "no, I am just kidding. A guy could hope". He smirked and probably thought I was a moron, then gave me the spiel. After I signed that I understood the risks etc we got started.

The screen was rolled up next to my table, my shoulder scrubbed, cleaned and disinfected, then the drape went on and the moment of truth came.
The lidocaine needle went in a bit, the numbed me, then a bit deeper and more numbing etc, until he was almost down to the labrum.

Then the contrast needle went in. This needle was the size of a log, but penetrating somewhere between the infraspinatus and teres minor to reach the labrum only felt like someone pushing on my arm. No real discomfort to speak of.

Until he hit the labrum. Apparently the labrum contains nerve endings and they aren't quite as numb since the lidocaine doesn't penetrate that deeply. The discomfort beaming down my arm was very similar to the tingling one gets from sipping a hot drink and then sticking a stainless spoon of ice cream on your teeth. Not very comfortable at all.
Part of that is because the doctor needed to wiggle the needle in under the labrum and into the joint itself. Not a perfect science but about the only way to get this done.
Mere moments later he was done and I was off to the MRI.

MRIs are nothing special. You slide down the tube barely wider than your shoulders with a little pad over the affected part. I fell asleep while the machine was knocking, humming and hammering away. Twenty minutes later I was out and on my way home with a sore shoulder.

A naproxyn didn't seem to help dull the pain, so I was grouchy in the evening, but when I woke up the next morning and my shoulder was engulfed in napalm flames, I realized that the naproxyn probably DID help quite a bit.

I got a copy of the CD with the pictures and it's not that interesting. Most of it is unrecognizable unless you're a doctor. The humeral ball is visible with soft tissue around it.

Now to wait for my doc to tell me what he deciphers in those pictures.



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