No Fun In An MRI Scanner
How I Deal With It When I Have To Go In One
Introduction
I am mildly claustrophobic. I don't like being in close enclosed spaces, especially if I do not have a way out. Due to my health issues and the fact that we still have a brilliant National Health Service, I am now having an MRI Scan every three to six months.
It's not the worst procedure, that for me is the endoscopy, although at my last one, they gave me colour pictures of my breakfast that I had eaten four hours before. Endoscopy gives you no escape, you can't think of something nice while a camera, however tiny, is being pushed down your throat.
So Into The MRI
I remember having one years and years ago, which was in an enclosed unit. That meant that it would have been very difficult to extract myself if the staff had forgotten about me and left me there. I pressed the panic button at least once but knew that it had to be done. I think that was taking pictures of my brain and they found evidence of a stroke. Speaking with the consultant we decided it was a result of a second bout of ITP which you can read about below, but subsequent scans showed no further signs of bleeding.
The units that I have been using in recent years are open at both ends, so there is a visible escape route.
I lie on the bed and there is a noise, a regular mechanical noise and so I imagine that it is really a techno tune. I have a lot of music based on mechanical sequences so it is easy to slip into that mindset for me.
You are moved into the scanner and you have a featureless tube surface inches away from your face. I say featureless, but there are some scraps of tape and paper on the inside of the tube and my eyes and mind try to build them into something coherent, but it doesn't quite work.
All this time I am being told
"Breathe In: Breathe Out: Hold Your Breath: Breathe Normally"
All instructions that I follow, and then my ears are assaulted by the industrial techno made by the machine that is scanning inside me. In my arm is a cannula feeding dye into my blood to enable them to make pictures of my insides and the techno continues until the next repetition of instructions.
As I lie in that featureless tube I have nothing to indicate how much time has passed, and I certainly do not know how much time there is to go.
I think the hospital staff are in another room avoiding the rays that are hitting me and controlling all the technology to get an image of what is happening to me.
And it goes on and on.
I try to feel if I can touch the end of the scanner but my arms are not long enough.
Then I get an itch on my nose that I can do nothing about because I am stuck in the MRI tube. I could press the panic button, but it's only an itch. Then I get an itch on my head.
There are two industrial MRI noises going and I am sure that I can hear a tune linked to one, but maybe that is just my imagination.
Eventually, they tell me there are four more breath tests and that will be it.
They Lie
There are more.
Then they tell me it will be five minutes.
I don't believe them but it is true, I survived the MRI Scan.
Conclusion
They roll me out, I get off the table, a little dizzy, then wait ten minutes to have the cannula removed, an dI make my way home.
Comments (5)
Having any medical investigation scrapes out the opposite end of fun. And you're right, gastroscopy is among the worst. I think humans have some ways to go in making these procedures more pleasant for service users. When we were kids we'd get stickers, lollipops, and loads of attention and rewards when we went through medical stuff. But it's like when you're an "adult" healthcare staff are like "just comply so we can get this done and your reward is getting it done." Sometimes, some people forget that there's still that little kid inside all of us that wants to run the other way. My inner kid is alive and well. Says you'd need GA to perform a gastroscopy if it were urgent and there'd BETTER be ice cream after! Glad you're okay Mike. I've had an MRI and it took forever. Who helped me through it? Not the staff. Bob Marley, bless him! Yours sounded proper scary for you. Maybe you could feedback to the hospital about coping mechanisms for others like yourself or those who suffer with anxiety. They can easily do better.
Thank you for this Mike 💗I have an 2 MRI coming up Wednesday. I am pretty scares about. One with contrast another without. I forgot they had a panic button, which is reassuring. How did the test go? Sending hugs 🤗💕
First time I had one, I started giggling like an idiot because of the noise. They had to wait for me to stop. Last time, was not a funny. I started to get a little claustrophobic because the tech wasn't speaking and I thought he forgot me.
The itch is the worst part, especially since once you've identified one they're extremely difficult to ignore & tend to become ubiquitous.
I have had four or five MRIs. I detest the industrial endless noise and hate it that if I shift the least little bit, they have to start all over again. And you’re right about the inability to perceive time during the procedure. I’m am fortunate, however, that I’m not claustrophobic since the closest MRI equipment to our home is basically a long tube. The tube has very little wiggle room even though I’m a pretty small fellow. I can’t imagine how bigger people manage in one of those things. Very well written piece. I’m sorry that you need to do it so frequently. I’m sure it’s not fun at all.