BRAIN SCAN??? FREAKING THE HELL OUT !! :(,

[mummyneedinganswers]

So ended up at my maternity this evening with shocking headache severe sickness and tummy pain. They gave me IV paracetamol and told me they needed a more qualified individual to access me. So I wait roughly 40 minutes and the gynecologist came back and said I'm being admitted to the general hospital for a brain scan. I'm terrified all I can think is the risks to my baby from the scan and what's wrong for them to send me for a brain scan I have a high temperature and right sided tummy pain severe sickness, I thought I was dehydrated and through being sick and that's y I came to maternity but I'm just scared. All I can think is the risk to my child and what could be possibly wrong that they think an urgent brain scan is necessary my blood pressure is fine slightly fast heartbeat. This scan is MRI a lot worse than a general xray I could cry I don't know whether I should refuse it to spare my baby :( x

You poor thing. Do you have anyone with you who can advocate on your behalf?

Ask the doctors:

• what do you think is wrong with me?
• what is the objective of the scan?
• does it really need to be done urgently?
• what are the risks to my baby of:

(I) the scan, and/or (ii) not doing the scan; and/or (ii) leaving my condition untreated?

• what are the alternative courses of action?
• what are the advantages and disadvantages for me and my baby of each course of action (including doing nothing/monitoring only for now).

Good luck!

MRI scans are actually proven to be safe at particular stages in pregnancy. If you are worried then please speak to your doctor. No pregnant woman is investigated this way unless there is a clear indication. Please speak to someone there about your concerns, strangers on an Internet forum are only of limited help

Have you got anyone with you?

Poor you, that sounds so scary
Severe headache and severe nausea and sickness (which I understand are your symptoms, correct me if wrong) are absolutely grounds for a CT scan. Please chill, easy to say I know but they wouldn't do it for no reason. They will have weighed the risks up.

I didn't even have the chance they basically whisked me off to a ct scanner and when I asked the risks he said 'minimal' but can't gurantee?! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME I was like what and he just goes put this on a big lead apron and then goes lie there and then pul another lead thing on my tummy. I wasn't even given the option. They were worried about a bleed on the brain. And now I've had the scan they are now talking about a lumbar puncture but I have disc problems where that would be done so they don't know what to do as there are risks with thelumbar due to discs and spinal problems I feel like bursting into tears. My head is so sore and I feel like no one is telling me anything . no I'm here on my own dp is in work doing nightshift and we can't afford for him to take it off as I've been off sick for 6 weeks, so on my own and petrified xx

Hi

I had a head scan when 36 weeks pregnant with DD... I basically had a terrible headache and they were trying to rule lots of things out.

I also had a lumber puncture and another head scan - not sure what but I was in so much pain I just wanted to find out what was wrong.

DD was fine and not affected - she's now a bonkers 4 year old

Hope you get better soon - do you have anyone to come hold your hand while you have lumbar puncture?

That's good to know Mrsob I can't have the lumbar puncture due to the damage to discs in my spine the same as I can have an epidural so they said they will have to observe me x

An mri is much, much safer! That's why you're having one and not a ct. there's no radiation involved, only a strong magnetic field and it won't harm you or your baby one jot, honest!

For a severe headache they are following procedure just to check you haven't had a sub arachnoid haemorrhage or something. It's very likely you haven't as you are still ok after the headache but they do need to check. Theyd normally do a puncture as well to check your spinal fluid is clear, but seems like you can't have that done. The Mri will be able to see what's going on.

They are actually super cool :) no radiation, no risk to you or your little one, and there are no x rays involved. You'll need to take off anything metal - wear a soft bra and something like a jersey dress with no poppers or zips or metal in it.

Hope you're ok! Don't worry about the Mri at all - totally safe :)

Hi, my DS is now 9 years old, but my pregnancy with him was awful. Terrible headaches that culminated to one bad episode where DH had to bring me to the ER (was in US) where I apparently flunked the simple neurological tests, was put on morphine and had to undergo a CT scan. Felt terrible and guilty afterwards (also had a chest CT later on)... I was terrified for my son's health, not just in utero but also years later. I read a lot of studies about the risk of radiation, use of lead apron, etc. I've come to a poing in my life where I can accept it and am not so worried anymore. I understand your worry, but it's an assessment of risk. You'll have to have things ruled out. Your health is just as important. Hope you feel better soon.

An MRI will not hurt you or the baby at all. It will be a bit loud so they'll give you ear plugs and play music through the headphones. You can always ask the radiographer to talk to you if you're feeling nervous. There is absolutely no reason to refuse.

There is also nothing wrong with having CT scan if necessary. We did a full abdo CT on a lady who was 32 weeks the other day as it was important to see what was going on (possibly life threatening). The dose to the baby was calculated and not a concern at all.

(I'm a medical physicist. Feel free pm me if you need more reasurance.)

Thanks everyone very reassuring I had the lead apron on and two leads blanket things layed on top of that I'm just concerned of the build up of it all I've had a ct scan and had a lumbar puncture earlier (the CSF WAS YELLOWISH GREEN) when consultant said meant to be clear. I'm now waiting on an MRI I just feel so much has happened I have only had 2 hours and 10 minutes sleep since Thursday morning so pretty tired. Normally MRI scans and CT scan don't scae me as I have plenty due to my back it was just the fact of being pregnant that concerned. I think I need to relax and get a bit of sleep to have a clear head and properly process things,,, I just feel so guilty but the nice Dr said 'they need to care for me and my health for me to be a mummy and care And nurture my baby' which was nice to be reminded of that aspect I think I forgot that while neglecting my health wasn't going to help baby and baby needs its mummy xxx thank you so much fizzy 13 very good to hear that it does happen to others thank you x