I forgot to tell you about my MRI scan I had on Wednesday. After being referred by a consultant to look at the inner depths of my right knee (not a pretty site!!!) I eventually got my appointment at Southampton, Mooregreen Hospital mobile MRI unit.

I was expecting to be transported to the Moon and the MRI scanner to propose a threat to the existance of the earth, (which will mean nothing to you unless you watched Dr Who last Saturday), but the staff were very friendly. They talked me through each stage.

I went into the scanner feet first because they were only taking images of my knee. The whole scan took about 20 mins and I managed to stay still the whole time!!

The scanner is really noisy, something to do with the force field but not scarey.

This is taken from a medical web page which explains it all..........

"How does an MRI scanner work? The patient lies inside a large, cylinder-shaped magnet. Radio waves 10,000 to 30,000 times stronger than the magnetic field of the earth are then sent through the body. This affects the body's atoms, forcing the nuclei into a different position. As they move back into place they send out radio waves of their own. The scanner picks up these signals and a computer turns them into a picture. These pictures are based on the location and strength of the incoming signals. Our body consists mainly of water, and water contains hydrogen atoms. For this reason, the nucleus of the hydrogen atom is often used to create an MRI scan in the manner described above. "

I makes you wonder how these things are discovered and worked out!!!