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CPAP during MRI???

What about a vuvuzela instead of a CPAP?

You are attended the entire time. Instead of a CPAP I would take a vuvuzela and ask the attending health professional to blow it every time I doze off.

3.5 hours sounds very difficult. Good luck with it.

What about asking if you can have oxygen while you're in there? I'm betting that there is some sort of provision available for that since many really ill people are on constant oxygen.

I made an interesting discovery this past week while in the hospital for hip replacements: without my cpap or oxygen, I would quickly desat to about 84 whenever I started to doze; but having the little oxygen thing in my nose blowing a really low 2 liter/hour ( I think that's what they said) kept me from desats and I could doze off and on without having to wear my cpap mask all day. The oxygen thing was lighter, smaller, and easier to keep on all the time except at night, plus it gave me the freedom to doze off whenever I wanted and I didn't have to remember to put on my cpap.

Maybe the oxygen would give you the freedom to doze a bit and not worry quite so much? I really understand about the clautrophobia--I've had two long MRIs in the past six months and they were pretty miserable. Fortunately, the drugs DO help tremendously so take them!

Weezy

Thanks all!

I pretty much knew CPAP wasn't going to be an option, but it never hurts to ask.

An open MRI isn't an option--this is Kaiser and you get what they have. But Kaiser is funny--I thought I was going to have to make an argument just to get my usual echo and EKG (which I get every 5 years), instead they want this big, more expensive test?

I think the entire appointment will be 3.5 hours. There will be a contrast IV, but it's not iodine from what I understand. Needles don't scare me at all, so that's no biggie. It's just my concerns about not going nuts in the little tube, and lying on my back in one position for a long time.

From what I understand, I'll go in feet first for the heart scan, and then they will turn me around to go headfirst for the brain scan. That's the part I'm most dreading (I THINK my head sticks out during the heart part, but I'm not sure). They've reversed the order--it was going to be the brain scan first, now it's the opposite, and that may help as I'll be a little more acclimated to the noise by that point.

chunkyfrog wrote:Since only the hose and mask would need to be free of metal,
I'm guessing there is a metal-free air hose for that purpose.
How else could they do an MRI on a patient on a ventilator?

NOTHING that is ferrous is allowed ANYWHERE in the room.

There are MRI-compatible ventilators for this purpose:

http://www.smiths-medical.com/catalog/m ... tipac.html

deltadave wrote:NOTHING that is ferrous is allowed ANYWHERE in the room.

Because

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/31/nyreg ... g-mri.html

Good luck, Jan.

If "Alice" isn't to your liking, you can always try, "I don't want a pickle..." One of my personal favorites.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IWSMhUINPk

Jay

My two cents for what it's worth... if it doesn't hurt there is nothing to be concerned about or afraid of, and nothing about an MRI hurts. That's what I've said to myself whenever I've had an MRI. There is always someone to talk to if you want to talk, which is nice, but I always just thought about "things" while I listened to the music they provided.

You'll be back to tell us that it wasn't a big deal. I'd rather have an MRI than go to the dentist anytime! Sending positive thoughts .

Janknitz - I am also quite nervous about the whole thing if my face has to be in the "tube". Once for a brain MRI I was offered a mirror above my eyes. It was at a 45 degree angle so I could see out to where the tech's window was. As I recall she appeared upside down, but it worked for me.

About 10 years later I went in for a neck MRI. It was a more open configuration on the sides, but still had a big solid part above my face. (As someone else mentioned, the doctor later grumbled about the image not being as good.) I requested the mirror again, but there was none at that facility. At that point I became very anxious, but didn't want to reschedule the appointment. I ended up just closing my eyes the whole time. It actually took a bit of effort to not peak, but it worked.

I was also offered ear plugs and a blanket, which helped. With ear plugs I could still hear the tech giving me progress reports and inquiring on my status. They do seem trained to get a person out quickly if panic sets in.

Janknitz wrote:Any tips for getting through the MRI are appreciated.

One thing they absolutely should have is an MRI-compatible pulse oximeter, and something they might have is an MRI-compatible End Tidal CO2 monitor.

If they got them, you'll most assuredly be safe!*

*Assuming they"ll know what they're looking at.

I went in for an MRI. I brought along some gym shorts with no metal in them so I didn't have to deal with a hospital gown and show my backside. I carefully planned everything.

Then I walked into the MRI room with my metal eyeglasses on. To my mind, the glasses are part of my body and were sort of "invisible" to me as I checked myself for rings, necklaces, watches, etc. .

I realized it before I got close to the machine. I'm a bit disturbed that the high dollar people there leading me into the room didn't notice.

I mentioned that my dentist has been VERY busy with some metal bits in my mouth--
Would it matter? They said no big deal.

chunkyfrog wrote:I mentioned that my dentist has been VERY busy with some metal bits in my mouth--
Would it matter? They said no big deal.

Yeah, no big deal for them. They are not the one with shrapnel in their mouth

2 B Sleeping Soundly wrote:

chunkyfrog wrote:I mentioned that my dentist has been VERY busy with some metal bits in my mouth--
Would it matter? They said no big deal.

Yeah, no big deal for them. They are not the one with shrapnel in their mouth

There have been so many urban legends about MRI that people are overly scared about them. Many people with lots of fillings have had MRI's with only a few problems. Mention them to the people running the MRI, but don't worry. I don't think anyone's had their teeth ripped out by a MRI because of fillings.

I am extremely claustrophobic and MRI's are a real problem for me. So is CPAP therapy. I cannot tolerate even for a few seconds and of the face masks that are quite common. Fortunately, F&P makes the Oral 2 mask and that works wonderfully for me.

After aborting one in the interval between the non-contrast portion and the contrast portion, I had a long conversation with the head of radiology about the problem.

He arranged for a technician to be seated right next to the machine for the whole procedure and I was pulled out every time a sequence was finished (they were doing 5 or 6 series).

Having someone in the room to talk to and to touch me occasionally made all of the difference.

There are several different types of MRI scanners out there and the type they will use will depend on what the doc's are looking for and where it is. MRI scanners are rated by the intensity of the magnetic field from about one Tesla to three Teslas. The higher Tesla machines resolve better ( they can see smaller things ). In my case they were looking for a tumor that could have been no larger than one millimeter across and was likely much smaller. They didn't find it, by the way, so it was either not there or was really, really small.

The so-called "Open MRI" is a less than one Tesla machine and the ring is quite large. It's quite non-threatening but the resolution is not so great. If what they are looking for is pretty big ( a couple of centimeters across ) it's definitely the way to go.

The other end of the scale is the three Tesla machine. It's tunnel (ring) is very narrow. For me, that meant that I was touching both sides of the tunnel during the scan. For some folks with weight problems, they won't fit so it's not a choice for them.

Claustrophobes will related to being trapped in a small tube that is super noisy and from which you cannot see very well and from which there is literally not enough room so you couldn't actually get out even in terminal panic mode.

I not only use CPAP, but my diaphragm is paralysed on my right side (the larger lung, damnit).
So, needless to say, I cannot breath well in the Supine Position. (Three pillow guy)
So, when I needed an MRI for my kidney tumor, I pondered the idea of doing it Prone in the tube instead of Supine. I asked if it could be done when I went in.
They said it was totally unusual, but then they talked about it and declared it OK.

I went in face down which makes it much easier to breath, and rested my head between my hands,
with my elbows on the base. It worked wonderfully! They had to give me contrast and they just walked to the back of the machine and gave it to me there. Hand out of tube and done.
Easy Peasy. I could breathe much easier, and the view out the bore was much more open and less claustrophobic since you are looking straight out, rather than that supine view looking straight up at blank white tube.
They even told me the pix were better because movement was less and I was more centered in the bore. I imagine they are using it as SOP now for those with similar issues or claustrophobia.
Sometimes, you just have to ask.