My experience of MRIs... | ryuuzaki's Blog

This is my experience of having my first (and, hopefully, only) MRI scan.  It was not greatly pleasant...

I was sent a leaflet in the post that told me what to expect.  I was to arrive at the hospital at 9.50am where I would sign consent forms and be told about the proceedure.  I would be made to change into a gown and possibly injected with something that would show up better on the scan.  I would then undergo a 20-45 minute scan.  Finally, I would be allowed to change and receive another little pep-talk before I went home.  The proceedure would take about an hour and a half in total.

Here's what really happened.

I reached the X-Ray ward at 9.50am.  I signed some consent forms.  Then I sat in a waiting room for 10 minutes.  I was taken to a cubical and given a gown to change into and told the nurse would be with me in about 5 more minutes.  I was alone in the cubical for an hour because the MRI scanner broke down and they kind of forgot about me.  Then I was taken to the scanner and given a 30 minute scan with no prior talk or explanation.  I was then given my clothes and told that I could go home because I wouldn't get any results for about two weeks.

The scan itself was singulary unpleasant.  Calling the scan claustrophobic was an understatement.  My nose was about three inches from the ceiling of the tunnel and my elbows easily touched either wall.  It made very loud mechanical noises that made me feel as though I was trapped in a dot-matrix printer.  They tried to cover these noises by piping in rubbish pop music, so honestly I would have preffered the mechanical noises...

I was pretty unimpressed by their whole treatment of me.  I even told the nurse that I was very scared by the thought of the machine when I was going in, but they didn't seem to care.  Here's hoping that I never have to have another one...