About those MRIs

Seabee · February 2010

TN Golfer's problems with MRIs remind me of my experiences. My first breast MRI was a near disaster. It was scheduled on the same day as the CAT and bone scans, which was the first problem. I was already shell-shocked by the time I got to the MRI. The bone scan had freaked me out--not the scan itself, but being left left too long on an uncomfortable, cold, narrow metal slab while the technician chatted with someone on her cell phone. I finally interrupted her conversation with a loud howl, which got her attention immediately, but she couldn't imagine what was wrong. It seemed to me that she would have been much happier working in a morgue, where her customers would wait in silence indefinitely for her to get back to them.

As for the MRI, the position my arms were put in got more and more intolerable as the test went on, since I have arthritis in my shoulders. The pressure on my stomach caused acid reflux, and to top it off I got a tremor in my legs, which made it difficult to hold still. But somehow I managed to finish the test after a short break to give my arms a rest, and it's a good thing I did, because the MRI produced the most accurate images of the tumor, and they were instrumental in marking the dimensions of the tumor and getting clear margins on the second attempt.

Recently I had an "open air" MRI of my spine, which was much more tolerable. It was done lying on my back with a clear sideways view of the room, and with my arms resting comfortably.

My second (follow-up) breast MRI was much more agreeable than the first, though the technician seemed to doubt that I was able to do it. I arranged not to eat or drink for several hours before the test, got into position on my stomach with no problem, and then for some reason she arranged my arms in a more comfortable position than the one used the first time. This pose also got more difficult to hold as the test went on, but I managed, and again the results were worth the effort--no signs of tumor in either breast, consistent with the digital mammograms.

So on the whole, though MRIs are not pleasant, they can be very useful. I'd be interested in knowing if anyone else had an unusual or amusing experience with an MRI. The enclosed ones are rather like being put in a tomb before your time, and even if you're not claustrophobic, there is something downright creepy about the sensation of disapearing into one.

wallycat · February 2010

I was lucky that I'd played guinea pig when working for GE and volunteering for the very first MRIs coming off the line...I knew they were loud, claustraphobic and maybe because I went in healthy, I didn't really fear it. Good thing for me because I ended up having to have 2 MRI's (1st for dx and the second for the biopsy because no other machine could pick up my tumor).

While getting the biopsy, the machine failed. They had to call a tech as I lay there over an hour.

I slept through most of it. Ha, finally, work experience payed off!! LOL!

AnacortesGirl · February 2010

I guess, now that I think back on it, it was kind of amusing when they tried to do my stereotactic biopsy. For over an hour they had me on that cold, metal table with the big hole in the middle. They'd re-arrange me, squish my breast, and then try to take pictures. After about 45 minutes of multiple re-arrangments and squishes they finally told me that they could see the microcalcifications from 1 direction at a time but not both. When they tried to see both they got nothing but white on the screen so they were calling tech support. The company had them put some foil (I'm thinking Thanksgiving turkey at this point) down there someplace (obviously I couldn't see cause I'm hugging my cheek to the table) and give it another try. This went on for another 15 minutes with the tech on her cell phone. They finally gave up. They were very apologetic and said that I was the first time that they couldn't perform the procedure. I'm sure it was simply due to my dense breast and extensive ILC.

The first MRI wasn't as humorous though. I though it would be like the one I had on my back where they kept talking to me. You know "Now we going to scan for 30 seconds. Ok, this one will last a minute and a half." etc. They just positioned me, put me in the tube and (I'm thinking) put it on auto-pilot for a half hour. Didn't hear anything till I heard them come back into the room to pull me out. Glad to say that the MRIs that I've had in Seattle have been much better!

Seabee · February 2010

MRIs are noisy, but that doesn't bother me. They put earplugs in your ears to deaden the noise, but I've yet to have them put in so that they actually make a difference. The variety of noises is one of the few things that makes the MRI experience interesting. I can never guess what's coming next.

Maybe after I've had a few more, the novelty will wear off and I'll try to sleep through one.

Kleenex · February 2010

I had each breast done separately, on consecutive days, allegedly due to the combination of a variety of factors such as the amount of magnetism available in the machine, the amount of imaging solution it's safe to absorb in one 24 hour period, and the length of time it takes for the solution to traverse the body. 1 hr 20 minutes in the machine for the left breast (the defective one) and part of the right one, and then 45 minutes to finish the right one. I drove 45 minutes each way in Dallas traffic for this treat. Face down, boobs hanging into holes in the table (I was instructed to make sure they were "swinging in the breeze"), arms folded up by my head in a position that felt comfortable for about fifteen minutes and then did NOT. Some sort of fan was blowing 60 mph wind through the tunnel, allegedly to keep me from feeling claustrophobic - think of that video where the people are idiotically crouching under the overpass during a tornado. On the first side, a piece of hair got picked up by the gusts of wind and tickled my cheek for about 40 minutes - I shellacked it to my head for day two. I got "extravasation" from the solution - it was really cold and the delivery speed was super-fast, so it appeared to overwhelm my vein and leak somehow. The first arm didn't hurt from this until the second breast had been completed, so I wasn't able to do anything to prevent it from happening to both arms. It was a lot of fun. I was only 45 and healthy other than the globule of evil, with no history of wacky veins or anything. My insurance doesn't seem to cover MRI's for follow-up, although at some point, once I get nervous enough and forget the fun of the last one enough, I'm sure I'll ask for another one. At another facility.

Perhaps with the right balance of anti-anxiety meds and a comfortable position, I could sleep through one, but the clanging is so non-rhythmic and the face-down position is bad on the neck... On the good side, the sloooooowness of mine leads me to feel good about the level of detail achieved, and I actually seem to buy in to the idea that I just had ONE isolated tumor and everything else was uninhibited by creepiness of any kind...

Survivor07 · February 2010

Only reason I could do an MRI was because I was face down...too claustrophibic for the tube. I was in there for about an hour--which wasn't bad. Thank God the fan was blowing because I had 2 really bad hot flashes while I was in there and started sweating. Worst part for me was when the MRI was all over, the tech slides me out and says "OK, you can get off the table now." "No I can't," I said. My arms and legs were asleep and I couldn't move. Boy was that a pretty site when I got off that table. Good thing nobody was in the room or they'd have gotten a great show!

About those MRIs

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