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Children's health

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Original poster

DS (10) has been sent appt for an MRI Scan - am so worried. Can anyone give me any advice?

8 replies

josben · 01/04/2011 13:04

DS was sent to eye casulaty last thurs after our optician spotted that he has a swollen nerve behind his eye. (He was at the \opticians for a routine, 6 monthly glasses appt)

We took him to eye casualty and 2 doctors examined him. They said that he needed a scan and we would get an appt in a week s time.

DS is very well in himself - no headaches, huge appetite. But it have been googling (couldn't help it) and now I am so worried about it all...

The thought of him having a scan and what they are looking for really scares me..
TIA

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Sirzy · 01/04/2011 13:11

Can't help with the eye bit or what they are looking for - but hope all goes well.

But I have had a number of MRI scans. Make sure he is aware that it will be very noisy and he will be in a rather small space which I did find scary. They will probably give him headphones to wear, and should talk him through it all. He will have a panic button to for if he isn't happy at any point.

It isnt painful at all, but does seem to take forever and Isn't the nicest of experiences.

It may help to show him some images of the machine before you go so he has some idea what he is going to? I had my first one at 13 and found it very daunting.

It took a few weeks for me to get the results of the tests through aswell.

Suzannesee · 01/04/2011 14:16

It is just as Sirzy has described; very noisy, they pack you in and you have to remsin absolutely still and resist pressing thhe panic button. It's a sort of endurance challenge. Earplugs help but it doesn't hurt at all so stress that. Inspire him by explaining 'it's hi-tech stuff.' I had a full body scan which took about forty five minutes. You lose all sense of time because you can't wear a watch or see a clock and it really did seem to take forever!

However, it is likely that your son will only need a partial head scan so it should be a fraction of that time. Try to hide your anxieties and make light of it; an 'adventure' or 'something space age to tell his friends afterwards.'

Of course you will be seriously worried. Take heart from the fact that the doctors are puzzled and want to investigate a tiny anomaly as thoroughly as possible. Often these things are just individual variations and completely natural and harmless. My cousin had a small blemish on his retina which never gave him a problem but he was alarmed for a year or two whilst they watched it. Happily all was well and I hope it is for your son. Best wishes.

dikkertjedap · 01/04/2011 14:44

I can't add much, however, given that the doctors did not send him for a scan to be done straight away, probably means that they don't regard it as extremely urgent. I agree that it would be good to talk him through it and maybe give him something directly afterwards as a reward. Hope all goes well. Best wishes.

Original poster

josben · 01/04/2011 16:57

Ah, thanks for your messages, i am calming down a bit now - have been speaking to a nurse friend, and she said the same, - that if they were very worried DS would've been straight in there.

Thanks for the advice, i will try and prepare him as best i can for the scan....

OP posts:

chipmonkey · 01/04/2011 18:43

josben, in the practice I work in, in the last year my colleague and I have referred two children to eye casualty for swollen optic nerves. In both cases nothing was found to be wrong. Obviously googling will get you the worst case scenario but try not to worry.

Milliways · 01/04/2011 19:42

www.newburytoday.co.uk/news/FlashNewsPlayer.aspx?articleID=10325&CategoryID= This is a video link and you can see someone coming out of a scanner with the head cage thingy they use for head scans, and also the weird noise that is part of the whole thing.

I warned DS about the loud knocking noises you get, and he was allowed to take his own CD in to listen to through the headphones.

Try not to worry :)

Original poster

josben · 01/04/2011 19:59

chipmonkey thanks for your post - i need to hear stuff like that

thanks also milliways i will have a look at that link and hopefully prepare DS as best i can.

OP posts:

bobdiddly · 03/04/2011 21:26

Hi, my little one has had a scan recently and like you, we were thinking the worst. The doctors/nurses encouraged us to ask about anything we were worried about rather than keeping it in. Sounds obvious, but once we had voiced our concerns to them - and yes, they were looking to rule out something serious, but it absolutely needed to be done - it felt like we weren't just freaking out for no reason. Better to be super over-cautious in the long run. Not that it makes it any less worrying for you........Good luck and hope all goes well.

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