Hatrack River Forum: When you get an MRI...

This is topic When you get an MRI... in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.

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Posted by ladyday (Member # 1069) on :

...do they let you keep pictures of your brain?

That would pwn. *nods*

Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :

Yes.

It's very cool.

Posted by ladyday (Member # 1069) on :

I shall make a beautiful wallpaper out of brain pictures [Big Grin]

. Also, my boss told me he would put the brain pictures in the company newsletter if I actually got any.

I'm pretty sure he meant pictures, not brains.

Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :

[Smile]

So...are you okay? Any reason you are getting an MRI? Or is this for the kid?

Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :

I didn't get to keep any pictures of my brain!

Lucky!

Posted by ladyday (Member # 1069) on :

Have to ensure the migraines that have suddenly invaded aren't the result of robots in my brain or something before they give me more pills that don't work.

But I get brain pictures!

Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :

I bet it is robots. Always seems to turn out that way.

Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :

Are you claustrophobic? I had to keep my eyes closed so I wouldn't feel closed in.

Posted by ladyday (Member # 1069) on :

Nah, I doubt it will bother me much. You just sit still and quiet right?

Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :

ladyday, have you been through the Stargate lately? Have you had blackouts? Noticed your eyes glowing or anything? 'Cause if you're having headaches and they want to do an MRI... [Angst]

Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :

quote:
Nah, I doubt it will bother me much. You just sit still and quiet right?

Yep. They let you choose the radio station.

Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :

I saw pictures of my brain. i did not like it. It was really creepy.
I still have nightmares about the MRI, and have a lsting sense of panic whenever I even think about something going over my head.
Yes, you have to stay still. For (sometimes) up to 45 minutes. There is a thing which goes right over your face.
If you have any sense that you might even think you could possibly be claustrophobic, i sugeest you keep your eyes closed the whole time. it was when i opened my eyes and saw the thing in front of my face that I freaked out.
The one I had after I was out of the hospital was better, because they let me have music. Pick something loud, not something soothing, or you won't be able to hear it.
(shudders)

Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :

They gave me a CAT scan to make sure my migraines weren't caused by alien implantation. All the learned was that I had a raging sinus infection and (no I'm not joking) had a small pocket of gas in my brain. I'm an airhead! I'm an airhead! [Big Grin]

But I didn't get to keep the pictures of my brain. [Frown]

Posted by Lupus (Member # 6516) on :

well, if they are robots, I hope they are not made of metal.

metal and MRIs don't mix very well. Well, I guess the problem is that they actually mix to well, which doesn't work well for the person getting between the magnets and the metal. [Razz]

quote:
Nah, I doubt it will bother me much. You just sit still and quiet right?

well, you lie still and quiet. [Smile]

It is rather noisy as well.

Posted by Shigosei (Member # 3831) on :

Yep, you stay completely still. They'll put some pillows around your head to keep it still. Make sure you're comfortable with the temperature--the nurse covered me with two blankets to keep me comfortable. She also put a washcloth over my eyes so I wouldn't feel claustrophobic.

My MRI was early in the morning, and I was sleepy. I think that helped me not get bored.

I didn't get music, nor did I get to see any pictures. I'm still really miffed about that last one.

Posted by ladyday (Member # 1069) on :

Why is it noisy?

I'm mildly unnerved by noisy :\.

Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :

I would bring earplugs if it were me. The machine noise would make me neurotic.

Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :

There are hums, whirs, and clicks.

Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :

I think I would find it very soothing, actually. *likes small, enclosed spaces and being completely confined*

Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :

It's noisy because the magnetic fields are changing and shifting. To enable this, there are various moving parts in the coils and adjacent. In a closed MRI (the most common, and what most hospitals and centers have -- both because they give better scans and are considerably cheaper), there is also echoing, which makes the clanging and whooshing that much louder.

Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :

There's no way I could stay still that long.

Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :

Yeah, they'd have to sedate you.

Me too, actually, but that's because I'm claustrophobic.

Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Dagonee:
Yep. They let you choose the radio station.

You got to listen to the radio?! Man, I totally got ripped off with my MRI.

Posted by Primal Curve (Member # 3587) on :

quote:
...do they let you keep pictures of your brain?

Mmmm... cerebral porn. <drools>

Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :

*pat, pat* Jon Boy

Posted by Astaril (Member # 7440) on :

Wow. Talk about your star treatment! I had a CAT scan of my brain too once and there was no radio, no warning of claustrophobic conditions, and no pictures of my brain to keep either. I didn't even get to *see* them. Would've been neat. Do they show your skull too or just your brain? I'd like to see my skull.

Anyway, hope all goes well with you, ladyday!

Posted by Shigosei (Member # 3831) on :

I actually found the noise soothing. It was loud, though, even with the earplugs.

Posted by Valentine014 (Member # 5981) on :

ladyday, most of the time, in order to get copies of the films you need to request them, and they may charge you a printing fee, but if you have a cool doctor, he may request copies, not originals, and may let you keep them free of charge.

Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :

I had a catscan back in the day, the second one with dye injected into my brain that I reacted to - nearly passed out and went into convulsions, despite it being a "non-reactive dye".

I didn't get to keep the pictures either. That would have been so cool.

Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :

They will give you some sort of coverings for your ears, or headphones for music, if you are lucky. Usually it is headphones, because they have to talk to you through them.

Most of all, realize that it takes a while. I thought it would be five minutes and when they told me 30 to 40 minutes, I was not pleased.

Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :

Also, do not expect to be able to be sedated. For some types of MRIs, they cannot do this.

Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :

I probably will never be able to have an MRI if I need one, then.

Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :

There are MRIs that they cannot completely sedate you for, yes. But I don't know of any where they couldn't use mild sedation -- of the "the pain is still there but I don't care about it, oh look! a pink bunny!" variety. [Wink]

Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :

The last time I had an MRI I spent my time in the tube thinking how to turn this experience into a thrill ride--darkness, confined space, claustrophic.

When they were done I recieved a call from my doctor.

"Mr. Davis, you know those scans we did of your brain last week."

"Yes doc."

"We didn't find a thing."

Nobody I know was surprised at that.

Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :

Rivka, I was told explicitly that I could not be sedated. At all.

Edit: The Ramones song "I Want to Be Sedated" is now churning through my brain.

[ May 20, 2005, 11:33 PM: Message edited by: Elizabeth ]

Posted by HesterGray (Member # 7384) on :

Hey, I didn't get a radio! And I didn't even get to see my pictures afterward, let alone keep them! I was jipped too!

Now I'm thinking... gosh, was it really almost ten years ago I had an MRI? I don't remember much about it except that it was really, really boring.

Posted by Theca (Member # 1629) on :

Elizabeth couldn't be sedated for very specific reasons. They were watching her mental status and her neurological exam closely. Someone with encephalopathy could become quite sedated with only minimal medications and then her exams would be messed up. Then they wouldn't know if she was worsening or just messed up by the drugs. So they would have taken great pains to avoid any sedation or even sleeping pills.

Also hospitalized people who have impaired respiratory status from some illness, or patients with bad lungs from emphysema might not be allowed sedation either. Just for their safety.

So basically, any MRI CAN be sedated for. But some patients just can't medically afford being sedated.

Sedation can be bothersome too, from the point of view of medical personnel. It can take more time, has to be ordered by a doctor, causes the patient to need to watched closer, slightly increases risk/liability, can require more documentation, plus the patient will need a ride home, if not hospitalized. So it is frowned on unless necessary.

Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :

Thanks for the explanation, Theca. [Smile]

Posted by Katarain (Member # 6659) on :

Isn't there such a thing as an open MRI, now?

I think it's interesting that you're getting an MRI for migraines... I was having a lot of migraines, but they went away when I switched birth control. However, I still have blurriness problems. Maybe I should go to the doctor. Hmm.

Best of luck. [Smile]

Hope you're able to get pictures.

-Katarain

Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :

There are open MRS, but they are not always available.

Thanks, Theca, they told me I couldn't be sedated, but never really said why. I chose Alison Krauss for my music on the third one, when music was available, and it was a terrible choice! I was going for soothing, and got pretty much silence.

I guess I needed heavy metal to counteract the heavy metal.

Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :

quote:
There are open MRIs, but they are not always available.

Yep. They're more expensive, plus no hospital that already has a "closed" MRI is going to go to the expense of replacing it with an open one. Also, there is some evidence that the scans from an open MRI are not as good on some areas of the body.

quote:
I was going for soothing, and got pretty much silence.

I guess I needed heavy metal to counteract the heavy metal.

*giggle*

Posted by Enigmatic (Member # 7785) on :

I got to see my skull once, but only because I asked for a mirror while they were stitching up my headwound. The stranger part of that experience was the syringe of anesthetic in my forehead. It seemed very cartoony. *thunk*

--Enigmatic

Posted by ladyday (Member # 1069) on :

I should have pics in 3 days [Big Grin]

. Only took 20 minutes, 15 normal and 5 with contrast.

They gave me a shot [Frown]

Posted by Primal Curve (Member # 3587) on :

Cool. What was the scan for, if you don't mind my asking?

Posted by ladyday (Member # 1069) on :

I've had a few migraines and they want to make sure it's not something horrid I believe.

Posted by Glenn Arnold (Member # 3192) on :

They didn't let me have pictures of my brain.

Then again, my MRI was of my lower back. I got pictures of my colon though.

BTW, to add to feelings of claustrophobia (stop reading now)

In an MRI you are surrounded by a vessel full of liquid nitrogen and liquid helium, enough to cause full body frostbite nearly instantly. Even if it just leaks a little you could still asphyxiate.

And... In the same hospital where I had my laminectomies done, a boy was killed when a doctor handed a bottle of oxygen to the nurse in the MRI room, and the magnetic field pulled the bottle across the room with such force that it smashed the skull of the boy in the MRI.