Re: MRI has me concerned

[Guest guest]

Thank you Marla. You're always the voice of reason and a comfort

during times like these. Finally spoke with the doc yesterday. He

didn't have a clue what was going on but, to his credit, he made some

calls. Turns out that the radiologist thought my creatinine was too

high to handle the contrast. Last lab shows CREA at 1.1 with the

normal range of 1.2 max for me. My doc wasn't concerned about the

number...the `normal range' doesn't consider muscle mass. I've been

in the gym for years. My doc has seen me and knows the higher value

is more than likely attributed to my mass and is normal for me. The

radiologist saw me laying down in a tube, covered by a blanket.

Better safe than sorry I suppose...just wished they would have

included me in the discussion.

Aside from that, Doc said the MRI summary report shows my CREA at 1.4

which is different from the labs he has...could be a typo in the

report. The images without contrast were unremarkable...no surprise

there. To my way of thinking, the labs should have been reviewed up

front. An MRI without contrast for NS is basically

worthless...sadly, just a waste of time and money. Lessons learned.

Next time I'll ask to wait until the blood test come back before they

schedule a study.

Peace, Tony

>

> > Been away for a bit, trying to live life without thinking too

much

> > about this thing called neuro sarc. Not that that's worked. Some

> > new symptoms over the past year, enough that the doc put me on

> > neurontin for the shooters and order an MRI of the head and c-

spine.

> >

> > I went for my MRI, ordered with and without contrast, yesterday.

The

> > imaging dept did the scan without contrast then stopped. The scans

> > without contrast took almost 90 minutes which seemed awful long as

> > the entire process is typically complete in this amount of time. I

> > held very still and doubt movement was an issue. I asked about the

> > rest of the study and was told by the technician that the

radiologist

> > reviewed the scans and determined that they had enough

information so

> > contrast was not necessary. That is all the information they would

> > give me other than to say `contact your doctor'. I've had more

MRIs

> > than I care to remember and have never had them stop half way.

> > Unnerving to say the least. Still haven't heard back from the

> > neuro.

> >

> > Lots of questions…having worked in healthcare for many years, I

know

> > enough that the radiologist can not over ride an order without the

> > attending's consent. Aside from cheesing off the attending,

> > deviating from an order opens up a can of worms liability wise.

> > Typically, studies are only stopped due to technical difficulties,

> > patient issues (i.e. trouble injecting the contrast) or sufficient

> > data available for a dx. I ruled out the first two which leaves

the

> > later, hence a lot of nail biting on my part. I hope that I'm

> > overreacting. Has this ever happened to anyone else? Also, does

> > anyone have any links relating to the use of MRI studies and

> > neurosarc? I've done a bunch of searches but basically came up

> > empty. Any thoughts / help would be sincerely appreciated.

> >

> > Peace, Tony

> >

> >

> >

>

>

>

> --

> Marla Bramer

> Independent Beauty

> Consultant Kay

> mbramer@...

> www.marykay.com/mbramer

>

> May the Lord bless you and keep you,

> May the Lord make his face to shine upon

> You,

> And be gracious to you;

> May the Lord lift up his favor upon you and give you his peace.

> (Numbers 6:24-26)

>