Survived the MRI

[jennlk]

I really hate that machine. If I never have to have another upper body MRI, that will be fine by me.

Here, let's shove you into this tube that's not much bigger than you are. The "ceiling" is 6 inches from your nose, you can't move without touching a wall or messing up a scan. We'll slide you out when we're done, in about 25 minutes. Oh, here's your earplugs so you don't lose your hearing.

This one (at Chelsea Hospital) is one of those semi-trailer mounted MRIs, so the tube is smaller than it is at a hospital. However, it's only 10 minutes from the house, and you can get an appointment in 3 days. These are Good Things.

I do think that if I'd had to have a shoulder MRI, with the harness, I'd probably have gone into A^2, as I don't think the tube on this little machine is big enough. I'll have to ask my trainer where he went for his....

Comments

[mgucciard.livejournal.com]

If you do wind up having to do another MRI - the Open MRI facilities may not be particularly convenient, but you won't have the "get me out of this loud tube" problem. My wife had to do the MRI thing for a hip problem, and made a point of the OpenMRI because of a mild claustrophobia. Worked out quite well.

[jennlk]

Enh. Like my kids, I don't like being told what to do; and I hate doing nothing. The noise is really the worst part, I find. Another problem this time was that I had to keep my hands down by my sides because of the area that was being scanned...when I had my shoulder done, I was able to put my hands in a more comfortable position.

The nearest OpenMRI (*) is at least an hour away, and my back doc doesn't think that they're as good as a tube for doing prone lower back scans. The option was there, but I didn't want the drive...I can put up with a reasonable amount of noise/inactivity if it means I only drive 20 minutes instead of 120.

(*)That my doc has access to. I'd be surprised if there isn't an OpenMRI in Ann Arbor, but it's probably restricted to UMich/St Joe docs and emergencies, and while my doc is affiliated with UM, it's not his primary hospital.