My MRI Experience
About a week before
Christmas 2016 I had a Brain and Cervical Spine MRI.
I had gotten my
appointment date through around mid-November so I had a while to prepare myself
for the big day.
I always need to know
the ins and outs of anything that's new to me. Whether it's appointments, meetups with people or even my feelings...
-yes, you read that
right 😆
In the time leading up to it, I had
been searching everywhere to find out what the process would be for the
cervical spine scan to no avail.
I was also curious to
know what I would be allowed to wear.
My letter said to
wear loose-fitting clothes such as tracksuit bottoms and a long-sleeved t-shirt,
but did that mean I
would be able to wear those rather than a gown?
In the end, I found
the whole process to be very straightforward and thought that as I had had
questions,
I would share my experience to
help anyone out there in the same boat as me.
Please bear in mind
that I am in no way a professional, nor do I know all the lingo! I'm just a gal
who had an MRI that one time 😄
So, I had a Brain and
Cervical Spine MRI.
-a cervical what? I'll get into that in a bit...
When I got my
appointment letter through, I received a survey to fill in to take along with
me on the day.
It asked questions
regarding if I have any metal inside my body etc. etc.
If you answered yes
to a handful of the questions, you needed to contact them immediately so that
they could assess what the next step was.
I didn't answer yes
to those so I just took my survey along with me on the day, which they checked
before I went into the machine.
I was asked to arrive
20 minutes before my appointment time.
My mum went with me
and we only had to wait a little while before I was seen.
I met one of the
people who did the scan, they asked me if I was wearing any metal.
I was wearing a bra with an under-wire and I had metal eyelets on my trainers. I let them know, they said I would need to remove my bra and told me where the individual changing rooms were to do so in private.
I was fine to leave
my trainers on – I assume this was because my legs weren't
inside the machine for the scan?
The whole process was
then explained to me.
I was told that I was
having a brain MRI and Cervical Spine MRI.
It was explained to
me that my brain scan would take 20 minutes and my cervical spine scan would
also take 20 minutes.
When discussing the
cervical spine scan she motioned towards her neck.
-question answered... internal fist bump!
Both could be done
with me in the same position, so I didn't have to reposition after the first
set were done.
A grand total of
laying in the machine for 40 minutes.
I was weighed before
I went into the machine room
-tried not to pay attention to this bit
On the 'bed' there was
the paper that you see in doctors’ rooms covering the part you lay on and there
was a section built-in for your head to go on.
I sat down and they
explained that I would need to lay down with my head in the specific part of
the bed.
Once I was laying down,
they placed noise-cancelling earbuds in my ears and a foam cushion under my
knees to make me comfortable.
Then they added
padding between my ears and the sides of the head section.
The top attachment
part of it was then clipped on over my head and face.
I could clearly see-through, and while I was laying there I kept think about Ripley's loader?
Except hers was way bigger, she had more room and looked 100 times more hardcore than me 😒
Thinking of this distracted me for a little while anyway xD
I was handed a button that I could squeeze if I needed any help.
And then in I went.
I knew beforehand that you have to lie as still as possible to get clear images, so I kept that in mind throughout.
The first 20 minutes of scanning were quick 'clicky' sounds so I found myself counting them to give myself something to do xD
The final 20 minutes were more murmuring noises so there wasn't anything for me to count so I just laid there.
Throughout there were some vibrations through the bed which I had been informed about before it started. To be honest I didn't really notice them.
I must say that it felt like half the time it took.
When I was being brought out, I thought “Is that it??”.
I sat up and removed the earbuds.
I was told that my consultant (neurologist) would have my results within 10 days :)
I was told through a family member who knew of people that had had an MRI that they experienced headaches for two days after, I was absolutely fine.
All in all, it was a very straightforward experience and I would now be more comfortable to have one if need be in the future.
Please be aware that this is just my experience with the whole process.
I know of someone who had an MRI in a different area of their body a few weeks before I had mine and they had to wear underwear, socks and a gown.
They also weren't sent the survey; they were asked the questions when they went for the appointment.
Based on our two experiences, it seems that it isn't a blueprinted procedure from hospital to hospital.
I found the whole experience to be straightforward and - minus my contamination OCD - easy.
If I need to have another one in the future I won't be anywhere near as nervous as I was this time around 🙏
I hope that sharing my experience was helpful in some way :)
Thank you for
stopping by, I really appreciate it xoxo
As always, sending
you love and kickassery 😏💪💋💖
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