Stress Center Peer Support

hey guys,

I'm super nervous as I have an MRI tomorrow. I've been getting some strange sensations, so I'm having a scan of my brain and just found out, neck and upper back, which totally freaked me out. I know I have scoliosis but I haven't had it checked out, it doesn't cause me any pain, but I'm so scared of what they're going to say. I'm also freaking out about being in there for so long. I had one a few years ago, which was very anxiety producing and it only lasted 15 minutes. This one is at least 45 minutes long. I'm just a wreck about the whole thing.
It is not an open mri either. I just have tones of what if thoughts running through my head and I'm a bit overwhelmed over the whole thing.

Thanks!

Anyone???

Hi P&P,

I read your post earlier today but thought you'd already had it done. How did it go? I've had one done before too - actually I've had two done and they can be scary. Last one was an open sided and that was nice as I could see out of the corner of my eye to the outside - trees and stuff. One nice thing about MRI's is no pain and no radiation!!

Mine was fine and I was having alot of dizziness and imbalance. I think I was so stressed out at the time that my muscles in my neck and upper back were causing alot of it. I learned some exercises through a physical therapist and I still do them. Hope all is well with you!

Hi-

Can you shut your eyes and listen to the radio station that you can choose? And just think about how great it will be to know what you are dealing with instead of what-ifing.

Thanks guys It went better than I thought. I'll offer one good piece of advice for others who have to go in the future, I brought a sleeping mask with me and put it on before they put me in. That way I could open my eyes and not see above me (as to not see how closed in the tube was) but in my peripheral I could see the opening of the tube and the light from the room which was very comforting.

So I had my test on tuesday and my doctor called friday. I'm pretty sure that he said "your mri was normal" but then when I got off the phone I started thinking, maybe I heard him incorrectly? I had a physical a couple weeks ago along with a pap smear. It seemed awfully fast for him to call about the mri, they said it would take about 9 days to receive the results. So now I'm worried that I misunderstood.

Hi P&P,

So glad to hear the results were normal! Yea! I got my results right away so two days is a normal amount of time - no worries. I'm glad you did it and made it through. Don't let the "what if" thinking steal your joy! Congrats!

Thanks so much Simpletruths! I know it's totally the irrational "what if" that wants to steal away my comfort. So I'm trying not to focus on that but on the positive instead It's just amazing how we think the thoughts that go through our heads are the truth, when in fact, they are not.

That eye mask thing is a good idea! If I ever need an MRI, I'll try to remember that one.

You are stronger than you thunk you were. Congrats.

I'm sure you heard your doctor correctly. If it wasn't normal, he would have told you what the MRI showed. In the center where I work, there is a MRI center. MRI's are usually read the same day or next day, and then auto-faxed to the ordering physician. They may have said nine days since they want to add a cushion of several days.
Glad it went well for you!

Thanks guys It's so true, things never are as bad as we think they will be.

JJ, thanks for letting me know that. I waited for a good month just for blood test results, so I was a little surprised at how fast he called. And even though I'm positive he said the words MRI, or what if thoughts can get in the way. But I know that's just an irrational fear and everything is fine.

And I have to say, I felt MUCH more calm this time waiting for my results. I can certainly see a change in myself.