Forums > Social Chat > Traumatic experiences with CT scans!

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roarfireSILVER Member
comfortably numb
2,676 posts
Location: The countryside, Australia


Posted:
I went to have the CT Scan of my brain before. I was a bit anxious about it because I had one about 3 years ago and I remember that I didn't like it. I think the machine breaking down helped me cope heaps don't you think? Yeah it was just great! frown



I've been getting daily headaches for about 2 months and they come around the same time everyday: 3-6pm. I've been on strong perscribed painkillers for them but they haven't worked. Anyway...



I just wanted to get up and walk away but my head was strapped down. The tray slide up about 3 times then stopped and I was just lying there for about 7 minutes. Here I was thinking that they've stopped on a certain area because they've seen something bad. So I was growing paranoid about blood clots and tumas, because I'm an overworryer and that's what got me worked up the most. Anyway so then they came in and pushed some buttons and it moved again, then it stopped. Then I thought it could have been the metal of my eyebrow bar that they did want me to take out but I convinced them not to make me take it out.



Then the lady came in and told me that I'm have to have a break because it's playing up so I was still lying down on the tray but outside the donut/laser/camera area. I was there for about 10 minutes. Then I went back in again, and it stopped again and at the point I was getting a bit distressed. I felt a but claustrophobic but not a lot. I wasn't showing it but I just wanted to go. It was only meant to take about 5 minutes. The lady came in and went to push more buttons and I asked what the time was and I said 'look sorry but I have to go. My Dad is starting work soon and he's out there waiting for me'. So I've rebooked and I'm going back again on Wednesday.



So I have to go through it all over again. frown



I need a cuddle

.All things are beautiful if we take the time to look.


SkulduggeryGOLD Member
Pirate Pixie Crew Captain
8,428 posts
Location: Wales


Posted:
hug It will be ok hun. Before you go in for the next one think up a story in your head. Leave the story unfinished. When they put you into the scanner spend the whole time thinking of an end to the story. Drift off into daydreamland.

I'm very claustrophobic and thats how I got through CT scans. I know if I think about it too much I wind myself up into a state so I just learned how to not think about it until the last min and then I use the daydreamland techique to get me through the scan.

hug Good luck hun.

Feed me Chocolate!!! Feed me NOW!


ValuraSILVER Member
Mumma Hen
6,391 posts
Location: Brisbane, Australia


Posted:
a few years ago I had a posterior fossa decompression with laminectomy of C1 and C2 and duraplasty.



yep.



its basically brain surgery, with the removal of part of my skull and also some of the vertabrae of my spine. Then they put part of my leg inside my brain to help give the bag of my brian more room... like a graph.



I put this as a comment in your journal but I wanted to put it here too.



the best thing about CT scans is that they are painless and they dont take long.

I have had about 14 MRI scans where your entire body is inside a big machine and you cannot move your body at all cause the machine is about 30 cms away from your body all around you. They take about 27 to 47 mins and are VERY noisey. You will breeze through the CT scan, dont be scared.

TAJ "boat mummy." VALURA "yes sweetie you went on a boat, was daddy there with you?" TAJ "no, but monkey on boat" VALURA "well then sweetie, Daddy WAS there with you"


GnorBRONZE Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
5,814 posts
Location: Perth, Australia


Posted:
Skullys idea sounds great.
Hugs to you hug hug

Is it the Truth?
Is it Fair to all concerned?
Will it build Goodwill and Better Friendships?
Will it be Beneficial to all concerned?

Im in a lonely battle with the world with a fish to match the chip on my shoulder. Gnu in Binnu in a cnu


margitaSILVER Member
.:*distracted by shiny things*:.
3,777 posts
Location: brizvegas, Australia


Posted:
hug hug hug

i hope your next scan is quick & easy!! good luck m'dear!! smile

hug

do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and good to eat!



if at first you do succeed, try not to look too astonished!



smile! :grin: it confuses people!


roarfireSILVER Member
comfortably numb
2,676 posts
Location: The countryside, Australia


Posted:
Thanks everyone smile

I just don't want it to break again!

.All things are beautiful if we take the time to look.


MikeGinnyGOLD Member
HOP Mad Doctor
13,925 posts
Location: San Francisco, CA, USA


Posted:
Awww.... that is scary.

Ok, so let me help by demystifying it a bit.

1) The radiologist isn't in there as the images come in so if there is something bad they wouldn't stop the scan.

2) Your eyebrow piercing shouldn't be a problem, but it can scatter the X-rays from the scan and create artifact, which can make the scan a bit tougher to read.

3) In theory, this time really only should take 5 minutes or so.

4) I like to think about how cool it all is and how this is all very star-trek like. :-)

hug

-Mike

Certified Mad Doctor and HoP High Priest of Nutella



A buckuht n a hooze! -Valura


roarfireSILVER Member
comfortably numb
2,676 posts
Location: The countryside, Australia


Posted:
Aww thanks Doc!

I don't like the red lasers either! I hate the feeling of being in something surrounded by radiation. It adds to my anxiety even more.

And the radiographers just sitting there watching me whilst the machine broke down. They really didn't come in to reassure me or anything. They just came in and out pushing buttons.

.All things are beautiful if we take the time to look.


SniperBRONZE Member
Snoochie-boochie-noochies!
663 posts
Location: United Kingdom


Posted:
download frontier: elite II (what a classic.... :drool: ), play it all day tomorrow and you'll spend all wednesday wondering where to get those last 3 crew for your shiny new panther clipper XD

Sakura_MoonHop's Kitten Jester.
1,803 posts
Location: Wonderland igloo, Vic, Australia


Posted:
Much hugs hun
try and come down again soon, i missed you on sunday!
hug

.:Pink Exocutioner:.

I am Jack's Raging Bile Duct...

Loving you from the deepest part of my loins.



Adya MiriyanaGOLD Member
*slou?
6,554 posts
Location: Adelaide, Australia


Posted:
hug sounds quite a worrying experience!..

good idea Skully..

roarfireSILVER Member
comfortably numb
2,676 posts
Location: The countryside, Australia


Posted:
I survived it!



It worked this time.



I found out that it wasn't just a brain scan it was a 'facial bone' scan too



I get the results tomorrow...not that they will be anything wrong.



They'll say 'oh, they are just stress headaches, a lot of year 12s get them because of the workload and exams'



Thanks heaps for your support though guys, I really appreciate it smile



hug

.All things are beautiful if we take the time to look.


StarKRavernewbie
3 posts
Location: Melbourne


Posted:
Hello

All you need is a hot nurse.

MRI's sound awesome. I sat there thinking "hey, that's a sound effect from that movie... isn't it?"
Was that a helipcoter?

Very funny - but you are not allowed to laugh smile

StarKRaver

"I have given up looking for truth..... and am now searching for an excellent fantasy"


ValuraSILVER Member
Mumma Hen
6,391 posts
Location: Brisbane, Australia


Posted:
good to hear that it went off without a hitch!! *hugs*

TAJ "boat mummy." VALURA "yes sweetie you went on a boat, was daddy there with you?" TAJ "no, but monkey on boat" VALURA "well then sweetie, Daddy WAS there with you"


DragonFuryBRONZE Member
Draco Iracundia
784 posts
Location: Adelaide, Australia


Posted:
i had an MRI of my knee done, is that similar to a CT scan?
i didn't quite like the going into the tunnel thing. But i just ended up falling asleep on the tray thing. It took like 30 min to do. was very noisy and weird.

Do we sleep when we die?


ValuraSILVER Member
Mumma Hen
6,391 posts
Location: Brisbane, Australia


Posted:

Non-Https Image Link


this is a MRI machine.. your whole body goes into it.


Non-Https Image Link


this is a CT machine.. your body isnt enclosed...

I was also told that MRI is a whole lot deeper scan than a CT.. but Im not a DR so I dont know if thats true.. maybe Doc Lightning will.

TAJ "boat mummy." VALURA "yes sweetie you went on a boat, was daddy there with you?" TAJ "no, but monkey on boat" VALURA "well then sweetie, Daddy WAS there with you"


rowanleemember
99 posts
Location: west coast


Posted:
Hmmn. I have to go get a CT next week. frown Scared. Not so much of the procedure, but the possibilities. Hate the thought of something wrong with my brain, since that seems to be where I , or the part of me I think is I, originates from...

Hate both the prospect of knowing something horrible,and having to deal with it, and hate the prospect of not knowing, and more tests...

MRI, I get to wait for a long while, due to our stupid medical system ( actually a great system that is simply underfunded) . I also hate waiting! I hate machines like that, and hate the clinicalness of it all.

Hmn. Easy to see I am not liking this process, hey. I am not so good with being sick, hate everything about it!
angry

Maybe if I could find myself a hot male nurse?;)

My, I do have some negativity to banish dont I! Thanks for listenning to this little hateful rant. Seriously, I am learning a lot from the experience, and dont spend much time dwelling on the hatefulness. But it helps to let it out once in while.

Good suggestions of distraction techniques, I will give it a try. I dont suppose they let friends in there with you?

Glad yours went well Roarfire!
Andrea
hug

wherever you go, there you are


roarfireSILVER Member
comfortably numb
2,676 posts
Location: The countryside, Australia


Posted:
Wait, are you having just the CT scan or the MRI?

Distraction techniques? I couldn't distract myself...I was thinking

'They've stopped for too long..what have they seen, what's wrong with me? 'AHH the raditation!! Stop it!!'

I'm not sure about the MRI. My brother with Cerebral Palsy has had a few of them in his life...but I was too young. I know that it goes for 2 or 3 hours and you just have to lie still.

It's funny, because here I was being enxious and negative and people reassuring me...now I've completely switched roles!

And I don't know my results yet. I was meant to ring Friday but I got sidetracked so I'll be ringing up first thing tomorrow (Monday)

Surely if there was something serious they would have called me.

Like I said before they'll just said 'it's just stress' or something like that.
But the CT scan takes about 10 minutes

.All things are beautiful if we take the time to look.


rowanleemember
99 posts
Location: west coast


Posted:
Just the CT scan first, then the MRI in a month or so ... I guess depending on what else happens in the meantime. Here we have long waits for an MRI unless it is considered really urgent .

The distraction techniques, well, hot nurses and finishing a story in my mind should do the trick if it is a short process... ;-) Otherwise, I am sure I will be like you, wondering what the hell they are up to with all the little lasers and stuff!

I hope the results are good too!Let us know...

I also hate waiting for results after tests...

I think I am just grumpy with the whole having to go see doctors thing period!

smiles
Andrea

wherever you go, there you are


roarfireSILVER Member
comfortably numb
2,676 posts
Location: The countryside, Australia


Posted:
You'll be right.

I hope you don't have to have an MRI! No one can come in with you...and apparently it's very noisy. My brother Chris was knocked out and he had to wear ear muffs. I think that might have just been because of his disability but he wouldn't have been physically able to lay still for that long....oh and apparently it plays music too.

But this was years ago...it might be a bit better now?

Let's just hope you don't ever have to get an MRI. I couldn't handle it if I had to have one. I'd request to be anaesthetised...and if I wasn't able I punch myself out until I was!

Good luck with it all. hug

.All things are beautiful if we take the time to look.


SocksBRONZE Member
Arf! Can I have a biscut?
288 posts
Location: North America, Mid West, USA


Posted:
I actually found my MRI very relaxing. They had earphones, and I ended up listening to "The Police" the whole time. Took about 45 minutes to scan my vertebrea, and when I saw the results as a layman I knew it was "bad". A week later I was in surgery. Yay modern medicine....

I'm weird. Just work through that and we'll all be fine.

"If you are a dog and your owner suggests that you wear a sweater suggest that he wear a tail." - Fran Lebowitz


roarfireSILVER Member
comfortably numb
2,676 posts
Location: The countryside, Australia


Posted:
The results are in. It's not even bad. Heh.

I haven't spoken to the doctor personally about them yet but the lady at reception saw the record and it's 'slight nasel obstruction'. I don't know. Something to do with it being slightly to the left.

But yeah I'll go to the Doctor within the next few weeks and see what he thinks. smile

.All things are beautiful if we take the time to look.


BirdGOLD Member
now available in "advanced"
6,086 posts
Location: Cornwall, United Kingdom


Posted:
Thats good to hear, I'm glad its nothing serious! hug

My state of mind is not yours to define!

There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."


roarfireSILVER Member
comfortably numb
2,676 posts
Location: The countryside, Australia


Posted:
Thanks mate smile

.All things are beautiful if we take the time to look.


rowanleemember
99 posts
Location: west coast


Posted:
That's good news!
smiles, Andrea

wherever you go, there you are


MynciBRONZE Member
Macaque of all trades
8,738 posts
Location: wombling free..., United Kingdom


Posted:
Glad to hear that Roar coz I've got CT scan to have soon for similar symptoms, been having severe migraines everyday. Nice to hear a happy ending biggrin
P.s Are you allowed to go to sleep? Thats what i did for an MRI scan once,

A couple of balls short of a full cascade... or maybe a few cards short of a deck... we'll see how this all fans out.



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