General anesthesia and a large mallet to the head

[Jane]

OK, has anyone here had an MRI? I have a raging case of claustrophobia, I mean bad, really bad. But I also have a big lump on my knee. I'm convinced its a follow-up to a meniscus tear awhile back that I never had fixed. It just stopped hurting. When I had the tear, they let me have an Open MRI (which was bad enough). Now they are insisting on a Closed MRI, and I am freaking out! Not only do I have to worry about just what the big, ol' lump is, I have to deal with the CLOSED TUBE!

[jspnrvr]

Dec 4, 2009 17:56:53 GMT -5 Jane said:

OK, has anyone here had an MRI? I have a raging case of claustrophobia, I mean bad, really bad. But I also have a big lump on my knee. I'm convinced its a follow-up to a meniscus tear awhile back that I never had fixed. It just stopped hurting. When I had the tear, they let me have an Open MRI (which was bad enough). Now they are insisting on a Closed MRI, and I am freaking out! Not only do I have to worry about just what the big, ol' lump is, I have to deal with the CLOSED TUBE!

Hey, jane. You're not alone with the claustrophobia. My wife has it bad; elevators, crowds, big stores like Home Depot or Walmart with tall shelves like canyons. We stopped counting her MRI's over the past four years when we got to 15, and these are head and thoracic spine, so she's right there in the tube.

Drugs, better living through chemistry. Your doc can give an order for some IV medication. The nurse will put an IV catheter in your arm and slip you a dose of something like Valium to help you relax, I mean really relax; you don't have to be completely knocked out. My wife also gets an eye covering of some kind, and headphones with the music of your choice; hers is the Beatles White Album. It just turns into your own personal little space, your own inner tube going down the creek.

If for some reason you are concerned about the medication, be very frank about that with your doc. They'll find something that will work for you without having any bad lasting effects. Get this done, dear. Then you'll know what you're facing. PM me if there's anything else I can help with.

[doctork]

I've had quite a few MRIs, all using the closed machine because these give better images than the open ones. Might as well get the best, lest you have to have a repeat study done to get better pictures.

It has been a long time since the knee MRI, but IIRC I didn't have to get all the way into the machine to get knee pictures (just my leg), so it was not claustrophobic for me.

For the brain pix, I do like Jay's wife - cover my eyes and put on the ear protection. I have found it important to cover my eyes before going into the machine, and never open them until I am completely out. If I open them while inside the machine, I probably would be claustrophobic.

I do not use sedation/medication or listen to music during the study, I just meditate and do breathing exercises, using some lines of T S Eliot poetry as a mantra, works great for me. But if I were worried about the test, I'd use Valium or similar beforehand - they will usually ask you to have a driver to and from the facility in that case.

My knee MRI was done to diagnose a meniscus tear, and I didn't have it operated until it pained me enough to have a surgery, which was 2 years later. I don't think the waiting caused any worsening or complications - it was "elective" not a necessary treatment for a serious condition. If it hadn't hurt, a lot, I wouldn't have had it done. So I think you did the right thing on that.

But if the lump is undiagnosed and bothering you, you should get the study to figure out what is wrong. To quote Tom Petty, "The waiting is the hardest part."

[Jane]

Thank you! If j's wife can take it, I can take it! I'm going to ask for as many drugs as possible (I always ask for as many drugs as possible, even if I'm getting a manicure.) Can someone stay in there with me? Like my entire family and all my friends? Just for moral support. When my sister had an MRI, she opened her eyes, and there was a picture of a clown. Cruel humor. Clowns are seriously scary.

Now I'm going to watch the series finale of "Monk" and try to forget about my lumpy leg.

[doctork]

LOL! I prefer drugs prior to a manicure too!

[jspnrvr]

Good for you, Jane. I think my wife is also watching Monk.

[BoatBabe]

Great ideas here, Capital J ane. You can do this. It's a good thing.

[BoatBabe]

I'm voting for Baker's Cyst. Just saying . . .

[gailkate]

So what's the story on this? I'm finally back to normal from a long week of dental distress and surgical pummeling, and I feel great. Nitrous oxide helped (that was the good part) but other drugs just made me feel horrid. Xanax (vitamin X, as K would say) probably kept me from leaping off a bridge.

So, J ane, how about that lumpy leg?

[Jane]

The lump seems to be lessening. I am prone to strange ailments which no one can figure out and which evenually just disappear. I'm hoping this is one of them. However, I do have an appointment for an MRI on the 19th with assurances from those in charge that I have enough drugs to keep me from freaking out. (Although I'm not sure there actually are enough drugs in the world to keep that from happening.)

[jspnrvr]

Have you been around any crop circles? Have you had feelings of having been "probed"? Any period of time which you couldn't account for? Of course, you wouldn't know that though...

You haven't noticed anything like horns, or a little forky tail, working under the surface of the skin there, have you? Juuuuust asking!

[BoatBabe]

Ha, Jay! I was wondering about the Crystal Brain Probe, but I think you have that covered.

I have had an MRI previously, J ane, a couple of times. Since it is on your knee, won't your head be out of the tube?

Maybe I don't understand the differences between the Open and Closed versions. My thoraxic scans were head first in the tube, but I thought your knee scan would lead with your feet and have your head and most of your body out of the tube.

What the heck do I know?!? I'm not a doctor. I've just had a couple of tests, and despite my fears, I passed with flying colors. Mind you, this is HindSight, which is 20/20 as we all know.

[doctork]

Dec 9, 2009 0:50:18 GMT -5 BoatBabe said:

Maybe I don't understand the differences between the Open and Closed versions. My thoraxic scans were head first in the tube, but I thought your knee scan would lead with your feet and have your head and most of your body out of the tube.

What the heck do I know?!? I'm not a doctor. I've just had a couple of tests, and despite my fears, I passed with flying colors. Mind you, this is HindSight, which is 20/20 as we all know.

Not to worry, BB.

I am a doctor, and I have had an MRI of my knee, and upthread you will see that I still cannot remember if just my knee/leg was in the tube!

The "open" MRI machines have fenestrated, or partial, walls instead of a closed tube. My radiology friends have told me the closed tubes take much better pictures, then they start going on about "Tesla's" and I enter brain freeze.

[gailkate]

eeeewwwww... little forky tails and brain freeze are kind of a lot to take so early in the day.

I've had all kinds of MRIs and I'm a chickenthit, but they really weren't bad, J ane. Even the ones on my head were interesting - all the clunking and rat-a-tat sounds were entertaining, jazz and rap with street poety thrown in. Try to focus on it as a psychedelic experience. My closest to scary was face down for a cancer scan (because I don't have sufficient wherewithal left to get into a mammogram ). The poor male technician was so worried about making me comfortable and protecting my modesty that I started thinking I had to take care of him.
That's it - as the Grandma Supreme, you just make sure all the nurses and technicians are feeling good about themselves, and you won't even remember to get anxious.