hospital appointment on a saturday

System

aliasojo wrote: »

My app is on the 19th, if yours is first will you come back and let me know how you got on?

Good luck. x

Mine is not until March, sorry
Good luck with yours

custardy wrote: »

not to freak you out but be prepared for them fitting a 'cage' over your head/face
i assume its for a grid on the scan,if its the same for you

Thankyou, forewarned is forearmed. Now you mention it I think they put a grid over the lower body part last time. I'd forgotten about that!

laura_hoggle

What type of scan is it - CT or MRI?

I'm a radiographer, and although I don't work in either of those (I have stuck with the good old plain x-rays!) I know a little about them.

An MRI scanner is a tunnel, and quite noisy. A CT scanner is more like a doughnut, and a lot quicker than an MRI, and quieter. You can normally see out of the other side of the CT. They both show different things - MRI is more for soft tissues, muscles, etc. whereas CT is used a lot for bones, and some organs. MRI is often preferred as it is no radiation, whereas CT is essentially lots of x-rays being taken at the same time. If it is an MRI scan you will have to fill out a VERY important safety questionnaire which will assess whether or not you can safely enter the scanner - this is mostly to do with metal on or within the body, pacemakers etc. as the MRI is essentially a VERY powerful magnet!

In my trust the scanning department is open 7 days a week. Our operating theatres also run 6 days a week, and we sometimes run outpatient clinics on a Saturday, depending on the backlog.

Custardy - when they scanned your neck, it was probably looking for something specific, and they often have to use certain scanning protocols depending on what the questions are that the doctors want answering. They may have been looking for something when they scanned your neck, didn't find it, so now are looking to see if it is something in the shoulder causing issues. I think it is also different positioning for a neck MRI as it is for a shoulder one, so it isn't a simple case of doing it all at once I'm afraid!

System

Mine is MRI. So the open style ones are CT? Thankyou, I didn't know that.

ETA custardy did you have a dye injected? (sometimes they inject the patient with a dye so that they can see the images better) I didn't have one last time, but some other patients who were waiting with me did. I was wondering if it has any side-effects

custardy

avogadro wrote: »

Mine is MRI. So the open style ones are CT? Thankyou, I didn't know that.

ETA custardy did you have a dye injected? (sometimes they inject the patient with a dye so that they can see the images better) I didn't have one last time, but some other patients who were waiting with me did. I was wondering if it has any side-effects

no dye for me last time. however I suppose it depends hat they are looking for

laura_hoggle

The ones that are an open circle and you can see out of the other side (kind of like a doughnut or polo) are CT. There are a few open MRI scanners in the country (I know of one in Oxford, and I think one in central London, not sure of others) that are sometimes used for patients who cannot tolerate the normal MRI. As far as I remember, these tend to be a lower strength of magnet, so the quality of the images isn't always as good and may miss certain things on the images. I had my knee scanned on one when it was first being set up, it wasn't too bad as you could see everything around you but I kept focusing on the bolts holding it into the ceiling!! The open scanner I was in looks like this:

http://www.fonar.com/images/fonar360.jpg

I did however manage to fall asleep in it and jolted myself awake a few times!

Custardy you are very right with the dye, it does depend what they are looking for. If you are having this done it should say about it on your appointment letter. I know my brother had an MRI of his heart a few years ago without the dye, then had to be recalled to have it done with the dye as the doctor hadn't asked for it first time round! I don't remember him having any side effects.

harrys_nan

avogadro wrote: »

Thanks. I'm a bit apprehensive this time because they're scanning the head and neck area, which means my head will have to be right inside the scanner and I am a bit claustrophobic!

Hi, Explain to the staff how you feel when you get to your appointment, they will be used to people that feel as you do

I had a brain scan a couple of weeks ago and being me, I wasn't looking forward to it, but I have to say it was fine, very noisy but I was given ear plugs to use, no where as scary has I thought it would be ( sooner have a scan than a injection for a tooth extraction) just kept my eyes closed and relaxed.
mine was a MRI scan and no dye used
I'm sure you will be fine, xx

Person_one

aliasojo wrote: »

Just wanted to join in with the apprehension here.

I'm going for a head and neck MRI and *something else can't remember* lol, soon and like you I'm concerned about being right inside the machine.

I've also read some stuff about head MRI's that I wish I hadn't. :rotfl:

My app is on the 19th, if yours is first will you come back and let me know how you got on?

Good luck. x

I had an MRI of my brain before Christmas. The noises are pretty loud and a bit weird at first, but I was so relaxed in there after a bit I started nodding off!

Try not to build it up in your mind, it can't hurt you, and keep in mind that you can stop and come out at anytime if it gets too much. Sometimes remembering that helps you stick it out I think.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

The funniest thing from a head/neck/shoulder MRI is the feeling of your blood being pulled around your face.


Amused me, anyway.


Concentrate on breathing calmly and easily and it's a lot easier than you think it's going to be - often it's the thought of it that's the scariest part, not the reality (had several MRIs, CTs and bone scans - none actually fun, but not as bad as they could have been).

Person_one

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

The funniest thing from a head/neck/shoulder MRI is the feeling of your blood being pulled around your face.


Amused me, anyway.

I wasn't even aware of that!

aliasojo

Person_one wrote: »

I had an MRI of my brain before Christmas. The noises are pretty loud and a bit weird at first, but I was so relaxed in there after a bit I started nodding off!

Try not to build it up in your mind, it can't hurt you, and keep in mind that you can stop and come out at anytime if it gets too much. Sometimes remembering that helps you stick it out I think.

Like custardy mentioned above, I was expecting a large machine (as in 'House') but I saw an actual scanner on the news the other night and was surprised at how small it was. Clearly we haven't reached US proportions yet. However, I'm a bit concerned as my @ss is of US proportions. (Ok I exaggerate slightly but I am kinda thinking I might be squashed as well as trapped. :rotfl:

I can't say the cage is something I'm looking forward to. I tend to want to take much deeper breaths than usual when I'm feeling a tad anxious and I'm concerned I will only be able to 'shallow' breath for some reason.

Ach for 40 minutes I'm sure I shall endure.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

The funniest thing from a head/neck/shoulder MRI is the feeling of your blood being pulled around your face.

Good grief, I've not seen that one written anywhere. I'm glad you mentioned it. If I feel anything along those lines I'll know not to be concerned. Thanks.

(I might have been worried my face was melting. :D)

Thanks both.


Btw...did anyone take their own jammies or joggers or whatever or did everyone just use the hospital gowns. I've got the option of choosing.