My MRI Experience

About a week before Christmas 2016 I had a Brain and Cervical Spine MRI.

I had gotten my appointment date through around mid-November so I had a while to prepare myself for the big day.

I always need to know the ins and outs of anything that's new to me. Whether it's appointments, meetups with people or even my feelings...

-yes, you read that right 😆

In the time leading up to it, I had been searching everywhere to find out what the process would be for the cervical spine scan to no avail. 

I was also curious to know what I would be allowed to wear.

My letter said to wear loose-fitting clothes such as tracksuit bottoms and a long-sleeved t-shirt,

but did that mean I would be able to wear those rather than a gown?

In the end, I found the whole process to be very straightforward and thought that as I had had questions,

I would share my experience to help anyone out there in the same boat as me.

Please bear in mind that I am in no way a professional, nor do I know all the lingo! I'm just a gal who had an MRI that one time 😄

 

So, I had a Brain and Cervical Spine MRI.

-a cervical what? I'll get into that in a bit...

When I got my appointment letter through, I received a survey to fill in to take along with me on the day.

It asked questions regarding if I have any metal inside my body etc. etc.

If you answered yes to a handful of the questions, you needed to contact them immediately so that they could assess what the next step was.

I didn't answer yes to those so I just took my survey along with me on the day, which they checked before I went into the machine.

 

I was asked to arrive 20 minutes before my appointment time.

My mum went with me and we only had to wait a little while before I was seen.

I met one of the people who did the scan, they asked me if I was wearing any metal.

I was wearing a bra with an under-wire and I had metal eyelets on my trainers. I let them know, they said I would need to remove my bra and told me where the individual changing rooms were to do so in private.

I was fine to leave my trainers on – I assume this was because my legs weren't inside the machine for the scan?

 

The whole process was then explained to me.

I was told that I was having a brain MRI and Cervical Spine MRI.

It was explained to me that my brain scan would take 20 minutes and my cervical spine scan would also take 20 minutes.

When discussing the cervical spine scan she motioned towards her neck.

-question answered... internal fist bump!

Both could be done with me in the same position, so I didn't have to reposition after the first set were done.

A grand total of laying in the machine for 40 minutes.

 

I was weighed before I went into the machine room

-tried not to pay attention to this bit

On the 'bed' there was the paper that you see in doctors’ rooms covering the part you lay on and there was a section built-in for your head to go on.

I sat down and they explained that I would need to lay down with my head in the specific part of the bed.

Once I was laying down, they placed noise-cancelling earbuds in my ears and a foam cushion under my knees to make me comfortable.

Then they added padding between my ears and the sides of the head section.

The top attachment part of it was then clipped on over my head and face.

I could clearly see-through, and while I was laying there I kept think about Ripley's loader?

*image source*

Except hers was way bigger, she had more room and looked 100 times more hardcore than me 😒

Thinking of this distracted me for a little while anyway xD

I was handed a button that I could squeeze if I needed any help.

And then in I went.

 

I knew beforehand that you have to lie as still as possible to get clear images, so I kept that in mind throughout.

The first 20 minutes of scanning were quick 'clicky' sounds so I found myself counting them to give myself something to do xD

The final 20 minutes were more murmuring noises so there wasn't anything for me to count so I just laid there.

Throughout there were some vibrations through the bed which I had been informed about before it started. To be honest I didn't really notice them.

I must say that it felt like half the time it took.

When I was being brought out, I thought “Is that it??”.

I sat up and removed the earbuds.

I was told that my consultant (neurologist) would have my results within 10 days :)

 

I was told through a family member who knew of people that had had an MRI that they experienced headaches for two days after, I was absolutely fine.

 

All in all, it was a very straightforward experience and I would now be more comfortable to have one if need be in the future.

Please be aware that this is just my experience with the whole process.

I know of someone who had an MRI in a different area of their body a few weeks before I had mine and they had to wear underwear, socks and a gown.

They also weren't sent the survey; they were asked the questions when they went for the appointment.

Based on our two experiences, it seems that it isn't a blueprinted procedure from hospital to hospital.

 

I found the whole experience to be straightforward and - minus my contamination OCD - easy.

If I need to have another one in the future I won't be anywhere near as nervous as I was this time around 🙏 

I hope that sharing my experience was helpful in some way :)

Thank you for stopping by, I really appreciate it xoxo

As always, sending you love and kickassery 😏💪💋💖

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