MRI Blues

For those who missed my earlier post, about 2 weeks ago a CT scan
serendipitously picked up a tumour on my pituitary gland. I've been
going through a gamut of tests since to get a clear picture of what's
going on the right treatment of it.

Yesterday I had my MRI scan.

There are 2 situations I really don't cope well with - loud noises and
closed spaces.

I get to the centre, fill in the various paperwork and soon get called
in to the room. I confirm I'm wearing no jewellery, no hair pins, no
dentures, remove my glasses and lay down on the bed of the machine.

Since I'm a lady of some substance, I don't have a *lot* of space on
the narrow bed. In fact, I have to put my arms over my chest/belly to
stop them from being 'scraped' when the bed moves into the machine.

The Tech warns me that there may be 'some noise' and to help mask this
I will be wearing some headphones playing the radio. Did I mention I
don't cope well with loud noises? He straps my head down to the bed
and locks it into a small cage, which is less than an inch from the
sides and front of my face. Did I mention I cope really poorly with
enclosed spaces?

After making sure the music is playing, and I have the 'panic button'
in my right hand in case I get too panicky in there, the bed moves
into the machine. And keeps on moving. Now, not only is my head
caged in one spot, I'm trapped inside a NARROW cocoon. There's not
enough room to have my arms either by my sides OR on my belly - I have
to leave them half-way up my body, pressed firmly into the walls all
along their length. Every breath I take proves to me how tightly
jammed I am in there as there's not enough room to take a deep breath
without pressing them tightly into my chest and belly. The cocoon
extends well beyond my finger tips.

Did I mention I don't enjoy being in tight places?

The Tech asks me if I'm OK. I tell him I'm not OK. He suggests I
take a few deep breaths and see if that helps. It doesn't. Do I want
to continue with the procedure?

No. But let's do it anyway. I need it done. He turns up the air
stream so I don't feel as if I'm choking. Too badly.

Now the noise begins. It sounds like a jackhammer, going off just
behind me, and all but drowning out the music. I want to turn and see
the roadworks, but I can't move. The cage is holding me firmly, and
anyway I'm in this tight cocoon that won't let me breath deeply, let
alone turn around.

Did I mention I don't like enclosed spaces and loud noises?

After about 5 minutes, the jackhammer changes to a click and buzz. At
least I can hear the music now. It's not music I actually *enjoy* but
it's something other than jackhammers and panic. 5 minutes later, the
bed changes my position a little (scrapy-scrapy arms), the Tech warns
me that the noise is going to start again.

Pound-Pound-Pound goes my heart, in time with the jackhammer behind
me. I try to breath slowly and evenly, but it's not working. I hate
closed spaces and loud noises (did I mention that?) but I need this
done. If I back out now, I'm going to have come back and do it again,
and I don't think I can cope with that.

Click-click-click-BUUUUUZZZZZZZZ and we change position again.
I keep telling myself I don't have to do this. I can quit any time I
want. Surely they've gotten enough ...Jackhammer time again. I find
myself begging any deity who might be listening to allow me to avoid
having to repeat it all with contrast medium. I don't think I can
handle doing it all over again...

The noise stops. I get to hear the end of the hourly news broadcast
on the radio. My Health Insurance is having a dispute with the
hospital group that is the only one that handles private neurosurgery
here in Adelaide. If I *do* need to have this operated on, we're
going to have a couple of thousand dollars extra to pay sigh but it
would be worth it to not have to handle Brain Surgery as a Public
Patient.

The bed rolls me out of the machine. The cage gets taken off my face,
the headphones lifted away. I'm free to go. No need for Contrast
after all...

I spend much of the next hour shaking with relief that this part of it
is over. Now I get to wait until the results come back. I don't know
if I'm hoping that it's nothing 'urgent' and therefore I can wait the
2 weeks until my next appointment with the doc or if it IS and I get
called in quickly. Both have their appeal, I guess.

If I wind up being called in for a further scan, I'm going to ask my
GP for a one-shot sedative I can take first. There's no way I'm
getting back in that machine again without one. There is no access to
an 'open' scanner in the state (I don't know if there is one in the
country!) so that's not an option for me either.

Aramanth

check in your town...they do now have what are called "Open MRIs" where
you don't get slipped into the coffin tube.

Aramanth Dawe wrote:

If I wind up being called in for a further scan, I'm going to ask my
GP for a one-shot sedative I can take first. There's no way I'm
getting back in that machine again without one. There is no access to
an 'open' scanner in the state (I don't know if there is one in the
country!) so that's not an option for me either.

When my mother had to have an MRI done (in the USA), the hospital
told her she had to bring a driver as it was standard operating
procedure to give patients being scanned a sedative. People with
known problems with claustrophobia also get an anti-anxiety medication.

Ever curious, I had to ask "what if the patient really doesn't want
a sedative?" They said that they'd had so many problems with people
who thought they wouldn't have a problem but ended up needing the
panic button that if someone turns down the sedative, they're
charged $150 for the cancelled test.

My mother wanted the sedative and virtually slept through the entire
procedure.

Shirley

to reply via e-mail remove the trees from my address

Aramanth Dawe wrote:

For those who missed my earlier post, about 2 weeks ago a
CT scan serendipitously picked up a tumour on my pituitary
gland. I've been going through a gamut of tests since to
get a clear picture of what's going on the right treatment
of it.

Yesterday I had my MRI scan.

snip story of "buried alive"


Congratulations on sticking it out - I don't think I could
have. Even your description gives me the hoo-ha's.

Here's hoping that one go is enough to find out what needs
to be done for you.

Good energy coming your way.

April.
Put the cat out.

[before the punctuation nazis get me, I'd like to say that
I do know that the apostrophe above in "hoo-ha" is wrong]
--
"Things that try to look like things often do look more
like things than things. Well known fact."
Esmerelda Weatherwax (Pratchett 1988)

On Wed, 1 Oct 2003 22:55:19 -0500 (CDT),
wrote:

check in your town...they do now have what are called "Open MRIs" where
you don't get slipped into the coffin tube.

Not here in benighted South Oz they don't.

Aramanth

Aramanth Dawe wrote:


Yesterday I had my MRI scan.

There are 2 situations I really don't cope well with - loud noises and
closed spaces.


No one likes it, I close my eyes that way I don't have to think about
where I am. The noise is amazing

it is the super magnets flipping your molecules (which makes the image)

Good luck with the results.


--
Dragon Mom
started at size 28W, today wearing 18W, goal 16W
started low carb Sept. 2000.
5'6" Female, age 52

Post-op you'll need to have further MRI's, just to make sure all is clear.
Just request sedation next time, they can even go as far as giving you a
general anaesthetic, but I'd imagine sedation would do just fine. (I work
in a Radiology dept - so I've seen a fair bit

Tara

I remember my MRI......I too don't enjoy (to put it mildly) tight spaces and
loud noises. I was suppose to have the sedative but the hospital messed up
and scheduled me on a day they don't do the sedatives. I went ahead and had
it done.....wash cloth over my eyes so I don't see the enclosed place (like
I couldn't feel it on the sides where I'm enclosed) and the headphones
playing my choice of music. Unfortunately, the jackhammer is louder than
the radio...after about 30 minutes they tell me only 20 more minutes to go.
By this time, I am having a hard time breathing. But I push on. 20 more
minutes.....I can take it.....only the make a mistake and have to re-do some
tests. All in all, I was in there an hour and a half. It's not an
experience I'll ever want to do again.....and if so, it had better be
sedative day...lol. Although the good news is, I've lost enough weight that
I won't be squashed into that tube.....lol.

I sincerely hope your tests come out all right and you won't have to go
through that again. But if you do, there are open MRI's. My aunt who
weighs in at roughly 350 has used it in the past. Check around and see if
you can get one of them.
--
Vickie

245/170/145
LCing 09/30/02

you described beautifully the way I felt when I had my first scan done.
Congrats to you that you stuck it out...I didn't. I had to get out after the
finished doing my neck. I couldn't stay in there to have my head done.

Before the reschedule scan, the doc prescribed Ativan (don't know the
generic name) - a little white pill that dissolves under your tongue. Boy
what a difference that made! When you are required to be inside that machine
for almost 2 hours you sure want to be relaxed.

And if you do it again, ask if they play tapes or cd's for you and take
something of your own to listen to. I took a relaxation cd but later wished
I'd taken my kids hip-hop cd's to drown out the "jack-hammer" (LOL)

TJ

On Thu, 02 Oct 2003 11:47:29 GMT, "Vickie"
wrote:
snip
I sincerely hope your tests come out all right and you won't have to go
through that again. But if you do, there are open MRI's. My aunt who
weighs in at roughly 350 has used it in the past. Check around and see if
you can get one of them.

Sadly, we know that there *is* something there. The MRI was to
double-check position and size. So, there *will* be other testing and
more to happen yet before the whole deal is over and done there.

There *are* no open MRIs in the state. In fact, I don't know of any
available in the country (Oz)! So I don't see myself being able to
use one.

Aramanth