MRI scan.........DDi got to go for one this afternoon, what can I tell her to calm her down, she is panicking!!!

[Psychomum5]

DD1 has broken her thumb in her growth plate, and also maybe her wrist.....

damage to the growth plate while it is still in active stage can cause issues.....rare, but still possible, and DD1 wants to hopefully have a career in dance, which obviously could be impacted if her thumb joint is damaged.

the consultant at the hospital wants an MRI scan done to assess damage in her wrist, plus also to see just how much damage to the growth plate she has sustained......and we have been called to go this afternoon.

problem is, I have a panicked daughter who is a little claustraphobic(sp?)....she hates going in lifts, so the thought of later is worrying me as to how she will react.......she is already having to have help for panic attacks, and I fear one will come on just when I am not going to be able to be with her.

she is 14, so can be told clearly, but how do I word it in a way that mummy is calm too!!!(please!)

If it's just her wrist she may be able to lie down in a supermanesque fashion, leaving most of her out of the tube. Depends how old the scanner is though.

And as it's an MRI not a CT you may be able to go into the scanning room with her - they're pretty sensible wrt children, generally.

Could you call the scanning centre and ask, so at least you'll be prewarned?

not thought of that, altho they were the ones who rang me and the implication was that as she was 14, she would be expected to go in herself.

when I asked whether she would be going 'all in', or if it would be just her wrist, they were very vague, so I really don;t know on that, and this is why I don;t want to tell DD that she will just be having her wrist done if that is not how it happens, IYGWIM.

also, any idea on how loud it will be.......she is allowed to take a CD with her, so help her focus on that, so am worried about noise.....((for her sake.....it is the noises lifts makes that started her fear of them, and now it has also turned into fear of small spaces too))

MRIs are NOISY. Even the very modern ones make a fair old racket.

Ignore implication, and vagueness - you need to call again and ask specifically. You may have talked to the receptionist, who would not be able to give you detail. Ask to speak to the radiographer, if possible.

right you are, will ring then......will be back in a little bit.

and thanks for the noise part, will prepare her on that!

very noisy.

When I had my knees done, they only put my knees in. Surely only her arm will be in so claustrophobia shouldnt be bad should it?

If it's an old machine the scanning part may be in the middle of quite a long tube, thus even with arm over head you may still have head inside tube - good to know so can prewarn...

ok, have rung.

I am allowed in with her, altho I won;t be able to go close, I will be there, so one relief.

they think she will be lying on her front with her arm up, and therefore not going 'all in', but they cannot guarantee 100%, so I will need to wanr her......they did say very unlikely 'all in', but still possible. ho hum...

I now have to weigh her in kilos, and ensure she has nothing metal on her clothing, nor me either if I am in there with her........good old slouchy clothes.

but, I feel a little better, which wil help her as the calmer I am, the calmer she is!.

thanks for the nudge to ring them

No worries, information is power.

Check for eyelets in trackie bum drawstring holes, ditto metal ends to laces.

And zips, obv.

Have fun! I used to fall asleep when they were calibrating the tube. A first, apparently...

Is she the sort who would prefer to know why it makes the noise ? I can explain if it would .

It's the MAGIC ELVES mining for MAGNETIZED IRIDIUM.

And listening to Ukrainian speed-techno.

cmot, yes please

she just looked at me in horror when I told her no bra either!!!!, one day she will appreciate no bra's, but she is so thrilled to finally need one, she hates not having it on now

OK - what you get is a metallic banging noise.

The MRI works like this - the big magnetic field (thousands of times stronger than the earths magnetic field, so thats why no metal - it would get pulled onto the magnet and stick there) makes all the water molecules in your body line up as they are slighty magnetic.
They then use a little pulse of radiowaves to 'knock' them off that alignment, and as they go back to the alignment they give off their own radio signal.
Its the speed with which they go back that gives the computer the information about your body tissues that it needs to build the picture.

In order to give it the information about where everything is in the body, theres extra magnetic fields that are switched on and off during the scan, and its as these go on and off they make the banging noise as the metal shifts.

There'll probably be something around her arm when its in the scanner, and thats where the radio signal comes from.

Tracky bottoms and a sweatshirt are the best things - it can get a bit chilly in the room .

sending positive calming vibes to you and dd x

thankyou all........I had to run at 12, so in fact missed the explaination till now, altho I will let her read in a while, so she will understand then why it sounded like 'a machine gun'..!

I am a wee bit pissed off tho.......the lady on the phone said I could go in with her, and I dressed correctly myself, and then, as I was following DD1 into the room, the radiographer held up her hand and pointed me back out....

megan looked so confused and upset, and she came out near tears after......not least because the lady had twice told her to not move, but her hand went into spasm and she said it kept twitching......still, she coped, she said it was very very loud even tho they had put headphones on, and she is quite proud of herself for coping as she was in there for half an hour!

the lack of communication is dire tho.......they had also told me that she could keep her cast on, yet when we got there discovered that it had to come off!, added into that the fact that they also asked her about her periods, even tho I had written it all down (which was very embarrassing for her as they asked her in a room with men there too), I am rather annoyed with it all.

hey ho.....all done, we get results next week, and hopefully we won;t need to go back there again.

thanks again all

Psychomum - glad it went OK but sorry that communication was poor. I'm interested in your thread as dd is having a cardiac MRI shortly - will be the full 'in the tunnel' thingy and she doesn't 'do' noise.

IME the period thing is completely normal - not even allowed in the room whilst they asked dd that yesterday - presumably in case she's keeping some deep dark secret from me

Hope the results are good.