The technician doing the procedure was very understanding and put a cold washcloth over my eyes and told me to imagine something really happy. It sort of worked but the next time I brought my own washcloth and it wasn't that bad for I had an open MRI which didn't look so threatening before getting on that sled. This time I knew that it was going to be back at the hospital where I was told it wasn't an open MRI. 

I fretted about this all night wondering if I could hold it together in that little tube once more. This morning I had a thought while folding the fresh laundry from the dryer [really looking for some things to wear this morning] and came across a neat idea. I LOVE the smell of the bounce that I use in the dryer [even after using my favorite detergent that smells great and liquid softener that also smells great so I took a washcloth and wet it good and squeezed out the excess water. Laid that washcloth out flat on the counter and in the center of it I placed an unused sheet of bounce. I folded in the long edges to meet each other in the center of the cloth and then folded again. I now had a wet and soooooo sweet smelling washcloth. At the MRI machine I tucked that washcloth over my eyes and let myself be slid into that abyss. 

The air that blew onto my face smelled sweet like my freshly dried clothes and no longer stale and carrying the smells of the people before me. That little sheet of bounce made it so much easier for me. I even felt myself relax and the patterns of clanks started to elicit images of rhythmic dances of flowers in a field of vibrant colors. The auras that the machine caused in my head were no longer fearsome but pleasant. I will never go for a test without my sheet of bounce in a wet washcloth.