MRI for my Sore Knees

My knee problem was worse than I thought.   Upon advice of the doctor, I underwent an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) procedure yesterday.  

I was aghast at how expensive MRI prices are!   Here is a comparative costing of a plain right knee joint MRI in a few hospitals in Manila:

The Medical City:  P15,000

Cardinal Santos: P9,000

UST Hospital: P6,940

De Los Santos : P5,000

I didn't bother to ask Asian Hospital, St. Luke's and Makati Med anymore because I am pretty sure they would charge over P15000.  Notice how wide the price range is.   And take note, this is only for one knee.   Both of my knees are aching, but the doctor said one knee MRI is fine so I wouldn't have to pay double.

Too bad I didn't get a health insurance last year.  I was about to, but then I thought that I might be working again soon and a personal health insurance might just become redundant with employee health insurance benefits.  I wanted to take the cheapest MRI but I was a bit wary of the quality in a hospital I am not familiar with, so I decided to go for UST.  

I was a bit worried at first that I might become claustrophobic when they finally put me inside the tube.  They just shoved me in halfway.  It was just my knee after all that needed a reading.   It wasn't scary at all.  I was in fact comfortable and I didn't even have to wear a lab gown.  I was just lying there ready to doze off, except for one tiny problem.   They provided me with a headset so that the music could deaden the loud sounds of the equipment.   

Unfortunately, the station was set at 90.7 FM Love Radio.   Oh boy, was it so annoying!   The DJ (and his irritating laughter), the commercials, and the music playlist were just plain wrong for me.  I am a jologs person but that was just too much.   To prove my point, I had to listen to a song with these lyrics:  Hoy Boy Kulot, bakit mo sinulot ang syota kong maharot".   And that line was repeated over and over again and it is stuck to my head till now.   

Music aside, everything was okay and I already have the MRI results now.   There were a few findings including an ACL tear, mild cartilage degeneration, moderate joint effusion, and other highly scientific jargons that sound Greek to me.    

I am crossing my fingers that the problem is nothing serious that would require arthroscopic surgery, cause a huge dent in my wallet, or make me say goodbye to hiking, Chalene Johnson, and my tennis racquet for good.