HP, that is not all that uncommon, in fact there are companies making open scanners now to avoid exactly your reaction. A company up here that advertises is Open MRI of new england. I did a quick search on open CAT scan and found this web page among many others. Ask your DR about it citing your clausterphobia. I'm sure they can find something to accommodate you. Might cost a little more, so you may need to clear it with your insurance. Hope that helps.
HP, did they say why they wanted a cat scan within a week? Did they see something that concerned them? Please ask what is going on, you need to know. Don't let me scare you though, I know nothing of what is normal here. Just seemed to me that there is an urgency and I'm reading between the lines. I also noticed on the website I referenced that they mention a "virtual colonoscopy" as one of the capabilities of the cat scan machine, so my thought is that they might have seen something that they want to get a better look at. Let us know what you find out. I am praying for you.
Thanks guys, I will mention that to the nurse when she calls back this afternoon.
I remember as a kid of, say, 8 or so that I had fainted several times at school so the doctor ordered some kind of scan..I don't really remember what it was..only that it involved a tube thing and laying still. I freaked out back then and the results were sketchy. So it's not an affectation that I have taken up in my old age of 34 (which I will turn on monday, thankyouverymuch); it is something that I experienced even when I was too young to know what it was. I even start to get panicky if my kids are being silly and laying on me and I can't move. Weird.
It'll all work out. If this scan shows nothing, I give up. I hereby sentence myself to a lifetime of painful penetration and sporadic sex.
Blind, The cat scan was something he wanted to do, from the get go. He just wanted to do the colonoscopy first. I am assuming he is looking for tumors, though he didn't say that out loud. At this point, I am thrilled that he is wanting to do everything fast and furiously. I've about had it with feeling yuck.
My H enjoyed having a wasted-out-of-her-mind wife yesterday. I made him stop at Olive Garden AND the local pizza place on the way home from the hospital. He got to gorge himself and I was not doing my usual, There is nothing healthy to eat here! routine. I was eating and eating and he was amused by it. So if I have to be drugged in order to make it thru the scan, he won't mind too much, as he will have high expectations of the feast to come afterwards, lol.
I should mention that my loving H decided to not eat Wednesday night and Thursday morning since I couldn't eat (he really is a sweet person) and so he was starving too.
If I remember correctly at cat scan is not all that bad, now if you are going for MRI I would suggest you be drugged. MRI is the one they stick your whole body in that tube. Cat scan is not as bad. Maybe you can go to the place and see the machine and you can decide. I could not do a MRI because I am very claustrophobic, but the cat scan did not bother me. (((((((((hugs))))))))))
Hey, my DD3's 4th birthday is Monday, too! We're having a birthday party tomorrow at a fun playground...12 little kids will be there. I'm in charge of hotdog and brat grilling*.
HP, don't give up! If you are hurting, there is a reason for it. You'll get to the bottom of this eventually. I've thought about what would happen if I could no longer have sex or if it became painful during or after and was found to be something that could not be fixed. I don't think I could cope with that too well. I somehow doubt you would either.
HP.....I think I am at a pro at the CAT scan's and MRI's. My daughter with her being sick and all has had many of them. A MRI she was put into a machine. I guess it wasn't even considered an open MRI. BNut not scary at all. It was kind of a tube. But both ends were completely open. I was right in the room with her and could talk to her and see her. Her legs were out of the machine completely cause I was rubbing her legs as I was talking to her. It also wasn't very closed around her. She had to lay still but could have looked up at me if she really wanted to.
The CAT scan machine looked like a giant donut. They slid her head part to the center of the giant donut and snapped their pictures. This only took about 5 minutes.
I hope all goes well. What was the area they seen that they were concerned about? Was there an irritated or red part? I know my husband had a questionable spot and they did a boposy but all came back well. They said it was just an irritated spot way up in his colon.
Hairy, No foolin about your daughter's bday! What a coincidence!
When you adopt a child, do you find out what their exact birthday is? Btw, last week in church I was sitting there and my mind started wandering, which is no reflection on our priest, he's excellent, lol. Anyway, I started piecing together some incidents that have happened to us lately and by the end of the wandering, I was convinced that we are being called to adopt a child. Now, I've ALWAYS wanted to adopt but haven't ever been able to talk H into it. When we got home, I told him about the events in our lives and asked him if he, too, thought it was mighty coincidental and he agreed that perhaps we were being sent a message of some sort. We don't have an extra penny to our names, but I'm going to look into an int'l adoption anyway. We have become friendly with a missionary priest who runs a charity agency in Thailand. D5 saves (some of) her cash and donates it to this agency and the priest wrote us a letter thanking us for it and acknowledging her extremely cute letters she includes with the money. He also told us a bit about the daily life there and so I'm going to contact him and ask what all is involved in adopting a child from the agency. I'm sure he will refer us on to some big red-tape filled organization, where we will go on a list and get scrutinized, etc, but it has been weighing on my mind for years now and I finally got the go ahead from H. He agreed that he would like to look into it. Hopefully this is not one of his "I'll say whatever I have to, in order to shut her up" moments. Anyhoo, happy birthday to Dsoon to be 4, and have fun with all the brats tomorrow.
Blind, Those thoughts have been on my mind a lot lately..what would I do if I could never have good sex again, etc. Boy it would really change my personality and our marriage, that's for sure. I have a hard time feeling close and "in love" with H, in the absence of ML. I would even go so far as to say that this is natural and normal and happens to ALL people, regardless of their desire level. There is no comparison to how a couple feels and reacts to each other after ML and when ML is a regular part of their lives. I think that LD folks may lull themselves into believing that living as "loving roommates" is the same as being "in love" but it really isn't. I hope that this is not my fate--I wouldn't do so hot at it. I simply don't feel like myself if we are not having sex. Having sex or wanting to have sex has always been part of my personality, since I hit puberty. To take that away would be the equivalent of me suddenly being short or blue eyed or a man or a water buffalo, for that matter.
HP I had an MRI in 1986 in Denver, a long days drive from where I live.
I was put on a sliding bed with my knees raised. Then slid in the tube. While in the tube, I could hear the magnets being energised and turned off even with ear plugs. The MRI at that time required about 15 to 20 minuets per scan and I had 2 scans of my lower and mid back.
No pain, no radiation was the reason I chose an MRI. The Dr. I was going to thought the MRI was safer and showed more detail.
I kept my eyes closed most of the time and did the mental song stuff to pass the time and feel at ease. I am sure you are not the first person to fear being put in a tube. Ask the doc's what they do for people like you that have some fears. Your health and long term happiness is more important than 20 minuets of anxiety.
I am sure Mr HP would do almost anything to help you feel calmer through the scan. Then again maybe the scan does not involve the "tube" design, so all of this speculation is for nought.
OG Lou. Knows how it feels to be in the pits for a long time. Sucks!
