Posted by Judy on July 4, 2001, at 10:20:31
In reply to Re: MRI of head experience » Judy, posted by Craig on July 4, 2001, at 3:20:20
> How much can you move around during the brief breaks? What if I needed to sit up at some point - would they pull me out during a break or is that only a last resort?
You can wiggle around during breaks, change your arm and leg positions, cough, sneeze, etc. but generally they won't pull you out because that will just lengthen the time the whole procedure takes. They *will* pull you out if you ask them to (double check with the tech on this before they slide you in - if you are told 'no', ask for another tech!)
>Is your head elevated at all in the machine? I sleep on three pillows at night or I have trouble breathing (mostly sinus related), so laying with my head flat on the table for very long could be a problem.
The 'pillow' that holds your head in one place will elevate your head a little. I don't think you'll have trouble with 'sinus-clog' for the short time you'll be there.
> If I'm only having an MRI of my head, will everything from my shoulders down remain outside of the machine?Like Tim said, most of your torso will be inside the tube. Depending on how tall you are, your legs will be outside. I forgot about the mirror he mentioned...that allows you to see the tech who is usually visable through a window at your foot end of the room. I also forgot to mention that they will probably have you put those foam ear plugs in your ears (you can still hear the machine and the tech talking though).
>And finally.... are they going to make me wear one of those damn hospital gowns?!!! ;-)No gown needed to do your head :-D! Before you go into the MRI room, they'll probably assign you a little locker and you'll be asked to remove your watch, rings, wallet, coins, (anything metal) and lock them up.
Also, as DebbieLynn said, they do have newer open-sided MRI machines now - so maybe you'll get one of those - but all the procedures will remain the same.
BTW, they may allow someone to sit in the MRI room with you if you ask - I sat in on my daughter's MRI. I also had to remove all my jewelry and I had to wear the earplugs, but we could converse and the machine she was in had a timer on the outside so I could tell her how much more time she had for each part of the testing as it counted down.
poster:Judy
thread:68788
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010701/msgs/68934.html