Re: MRI next step
From: Christine M. Smith (smithy@maine.rr.com)
Mon Jun 7 16:29:03 1999
At Mon, 7 Jun 1999, Sue Ann Murray wrote:
>
>>Finally, has anyone had an MRI? What can I expect? They just called with
>>my appt-next Monday at 9 PM!!! Weird? The daughter of a friend had one
>>and she normally has no problems with things like this, found the MRI
>>very, very difficult to tolerate. She said it took intense mental
>>imagery to keep from panicking in the enclosed area. She advised
>>pre-medication. Help!
>>
>>Chris S.
>
>I've had three MRI's over the years so far, although they were of the brain,
>so I was completely inside the machine. I'm not sure exactly what your
>position would be since yours would be of a different area. I can't say it
>was a joyful experience, but I had no serious problems. The only minor thing
>was that I have occasional allergy problems and one time I forgot to take
>a sinus medication so I needed to swallow frequently and I as afraid I
>wasn't being still enough. (Try to swallow without moving your head.) But
>all three were at different facilities and the machines were slightly
>different as they improved over the years. The first one they had a mirror
>placed so that you could see out of the machine along with music playing.
>The other two didn't have the mirror but still had your choice of music and
>there is always a microphone there so you can scream if it's getting to you.
>But the two newer machines also had a little more breathing space than the
>first one, if I remember correctly. I just closed my eyes and day dreamed
>to try and make the time pass quicker. Sometimes when they say, "this
>will take 5 mintues" -- I would count off the seconds so it didn't seem
>longer than it really was. But all in all, I didn't think it was that bad.
>
>Sue Ann
Hi Sue Ann:
Thanks for your response. The woman on the phone said that a pre-med
was possible but needed to be obtained from my pcp. I found it
difficult lying on the hard xray table last week when I went for xrays.
I can stand the discomfort, but if it makes me wiggle that isn't good. I
have to think about what to do this week.
Chris