"Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens..and my brain MRI."

(This is not me in the photo, however this person is wearing a similar helmet as I did and is about to go into a similar MRI machine.)

I shared with you recently that I was going to have an MRI on my brain and I asked for your prayers, since I wasn't wild about the idea of the MRI's tight quarters and the fact that one part of the test called for dye to be inserted into my veins. I have had severe allergic reactions to medicines in the past and I don't like putting anything in my body that shouldn't be there. I was more concerned about the test than the results.

Just before I left the house for my brain MRI a few days ago, I quickly made a CD with some of the happy songs from "The Sound of Music." I was planning to do a mix of Christian songs and a couple from "The Sound of Music," however, my lack of time and a computer glitch produced a CD with the songs just from "The Sound of Music." That would be perfectly fine for me, I thought, as I tucked it in my purse before leaving. These days, the MRI technicians actually expect you to bring some of your favorite music on a CD that they will play for you while you are in the MRI machine with all of the jackhammer pounding sounds around your head. It really helps to hear something more pleasant at that time. Trust me. :)


I'd like to thank you all for your prayers for me for my brain MRI. It was tough staying in one place for almost 2 hours without moving one iota. My head and neck were already hurting prior to the test, due to the car accident, so laying on hard metal bed (more like a slab!) of the machine, and being completely flat wasn't easy. The images of the brain must be consistent, so even in between the images that are taken (which take 5 to 8 minutes or more for each one), one cannot even shift one's head even a fraction of an inch. Your breathing is shallow because you don't want to move and you don't want to swallow very hard either! The quarters were very tight and a "good" place for many prayers to be offered. I was holding a plastic (metal not allowed near MRI's) rosary that belonged to my dear friend, Fr. Bill (my former spiritual director, now deceased).

While I was in that monster machine with "Climb Every Mountain," "Edelweiss," "My Favorite Things," and other "Sound of Music" tunes blaring behind the almost deafening magnetic imaging sounds of the MRI testing, I was truly thinking of all of you who offered your prayers and I was praying for you! Thank you very much for your prayers. I'll meet with the doctor in a few days to go over the images and results.

Another nice gift God gave me that morning was being able to speak to each of my children prior to my test. I have five children and they just so happen to be spread around the world right now. One is in India, one in Ireland, one away at college, and two others closer by. It was so nice to hear all of their voices. They all would be praying and that was a comfort. When I reached my daughter, Chaldea on her cell phone in Ireland, she told me that she was planting tomatoes on a farm right at that moment. She was working on a farm and it was amazing that my call got through out in the fields of Ireland. I told her that I would be praying in the MRI, listening to "The Sound of Music" and thinking of all of my children. I told Chaldea that if it started to get too claustrophobic in there, I would envision her planting tomatoes over in a sunny, happy field in Ireland, having a great time out in nature. And that's what I did.

God is in control at all times. We pray and we trust. It's always nice to surround ourselves with the prayers of loved ones to envelope us. God is so good to us.