The dreaded MRI

I have suddenly gone deaf in my left ear and 2 specialists dont know why.  Last week one of the doctors was cleaning out my ear with a long suction tube for about 20 minutes, as I was gripping the arms of my chair with both hands.  He was pulling out things I didnt think would even fit in my ear, but he finally said, "well you certainly have a nice, clean ear now, but I dont know what is causing the deafness".  There is a small possiblity there could be a tumor deep in the inner ear that we cant see.  These words sent shivers down my spine as I knew exactly what his next words would be ........You will need an MRI.    Oh no, the dreaded MRI.  Now, to explain my fear of the MRI, my claustaphobic level on a scale of l to l0 is l5.  I have had 2 MRI's in the past for other ailments and know what to expect.
On the way home I was thinking that being deaf in one ear is not bad at all.  I can hear fine out of my right ear, I have absolutely no pain, so why not just continue as I am and forget the MRI.  Then my common sense took charge and I remembered what the doc had said about maybe, just maybe there could be a small tumor.  So, MRI here I come.
The day of the MRI, the doc had given me a prescription for valium just in case I needed it (ha, ha, as if I would not need it), so 30 minutes before the procedure I swallowed the bottle of valium and was feeling pretty good by the time the technician came to get me.  Little did I know what was awaiting me.
She was very nice and gentle speaking as we entered the torture chamber where the MRI was and as I looked at the machine I noticed Hannibals mask from Silence of the Lamb, laying on the bed.  Whoa, hold on there Batman, what the F--- is that for.  She explained that for full brain scans I had to wear that so I would not move my head and ruin the xray.  Holy S---, I did not sign up for this.  Even though I was stoned from the valium, I said that I truly did not think I would be able to manage that.  She asked me to just give it a try.  So, I lay down, she put earplugs in my ears and very gently attached the mask to my head.  It was clear plastic and surprisingly not as bad as I thought.  So, we started the MRI.  After a few minutes she took my right arm and said she need to start an IV for a certain type of chemical to go into my brain so they could see more of what was there.  After this shock wore off, I told her I had no veins and she would need to use the small butterfly needle in order to get into a vein.  Guess what, she had no butterfly needles.  So, after poking my arm 3 times with no success she found a vein in my hand and was able to insert the needle.
Remarkably, I was able to stay calm throughout all this, except when she said if you feel your arm getting hot or burning, we will have to stop the MRI, remove the needle, and start the MRI all over.  "If your feel a hot arm, just push the button I gave you and we will stop it".  After being in the MRI now for about 30 minutes with 30 minutes to go, I would let my arm catch on fire before I would  push the button to stop and start all over.
Well, to make a long story short, I survived, went home and spent 6 hours sleeping off the valium.  Wont have the results until I see the doctor again in 2 weeks.
The moral of my story is DONT GET OLD and dont have an MRI without some valium.