13 replies to this topic

[LuLu]

Just curious if anyone here has had an MRI done before. If so, what was it like?

[1984]

i had one done a couple of months ago on my pancreas. they put me in a tunnel sort of machine and you hear a bunch of "ping" kind of noises. no pain, nothing. its actually quite anti climatic, but a bit tight if you are claustorphobic. its considered the gold standard for tests, better than blood, or x-rays, etc.

if you are going for one, dont stress.

[CTskifreak]

My dad could answer a few questions...he is the Director of Radiology at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford, CT.

AJ

[JDPower]

LuLu, on Jul 6 2007, 05:44 PM, said:

Just curious if anyone here has had an MRI done before. If so, what was it like?

My dad's had one a couple of times, pretty much as '1984' described, nothing to worry about. If anything you'll be bored, or fall asleep

[LuLu]

Cool, thanks for the replies! I have one scheduled for next week for my foot. Got hurt at work in April and it's still not up to par so the doc wants to see if I did more damage that he originally thought. I've heard the tube is "close quarters", so to speak, which bothers me just a little. I can handle tight spaces, but it depends on just how tight. lol The lady on the phone told me there's a good chance I'll go in foot first and have my head completely out of the machine, but with my luck they'll shove me all the way in. lol

[JDPower]

LuLu, on Jul 6 2007, 11:48 PM, said:

I can handle tight spaces, but it depends on just how tight.

Well you're not physically squeezed in, you just won't have much room to stretch . Besides if its just your foot the nurse was probably right about having most of your body out of it. Lots of info about it if you Google, or to save you a few seconds click HERE

[LuLu]

Yeah I'm hoping that's how it plays out, because to hear my mom tell me what it's like is crazy. To listen to her you'd think she was describing being shoved in a coffin. lol

Thanks for the link. I was looking up stuff last night about it. It doesn't sound horrible...just wanted some first hand tales of how it is. Thanks again!

[JDPower]

LuLu, on Jul 7 2007, 12:12 AM, said:

Yeah I'm hoping that's how it plays out, because to hear my mom tell me what it's like is crazy. To listen to her you'd think she was describing being shoved in a coffin. lol

Thanks for the link. I was looking up stuff last night about it. It doesn't sound horrible...just wanted some first hand tales of how it is. Thanks again!

Well like I said my dad has had a couple when he's had cancer and he said he nearly dozed off

[LuLu]

JDPower, on Jul 6 2007, 07:58 PM, said:

Well like I said my dad has had a couple when he's had cancer and he said he nearly dozed off

LOL that's cool. I wouldn't mind falling asleep. But I guess it all depends on how long I'm in there too. I can't imagine a scan of my foot taking a long time. But what do I know?

[Madmartigan]

I've had one done on both of my knees (from years of basketball). It took about 30 min for each one. I'm 6'5" and couldn't fit all the way in the machine so it was alright. My shoulders were too wide so I was down about that far. The machine was terribly loud. The tech gave me earplugs to wear. Since you are only having your foot done and only one body part, it should be a piece of cake. If it were however on a body part that couldn't be reached ex: my shoulder, there are such things as open MRI's.

Good luck and hope everything turns out for the best.

[LuLu]

Thanks! I hope it turns out OK too.

Thirty minutes isn't bad. I'm guessing that's about how long my foot will take since it's just one body part, and a small one at that. But who knows? Only 3 more days to go and then I'll find out. lol

[LuLu]

Well, my MRI is over. It took 40 minutes and let me tell you, it's hard to stay still that long. lol But it wasn't bad at all. I went in about hip deep, and they gave me headphones so I could listen to the radio, so that made things a whole lot easier for me. Music has always been a fail-safe for me. Anyway, that machine is LOUD as a mo-fo. They had me wear earplugs (yes, even with the headphones) and even with music blaring in my ears, I could still hear the pings and pangs of the machine. Quite a different experince than just a regular ol' X-ray that's for sure. I'm just glad I didn't have to go in all the way. To be honest, I don't think I'd fit. That's the smallest MRI tunnel I've seen since I started looking it up on the net. But anyway, I go to the doc in approximately 5 days for my results. I hope they find a cause for the pain/swelling/numbness in my foot and ankle. If they don't, then I shall consider myself certifiably insane.

[hazelnut]

Did you get your foot sorted lulu, or are you still having problems?

[LuLu]

hazelnut, on Jul 28 2007, 08:15 AM, said:

Did you get your foot sorted lulu, or are you still having problems?

I totally forgot all about this thread. lol

The doc said I did more damage to my ankle/foot than he originally thought and apologized for not doing an MRI sooner. Basically, I have ligaments that are still stitching themselves back together, I have inflamed tissue and deep bruising in a few bones. He said I'm looking at probably another 3 months of recovery time. If I'm still having problems come October, then he's going to go in with the little camera and take a look around to see if there's something the MRI didn't pick up on. So we'll see. Thanks for asking.