my MRI is tomorrow....
 

I have been having increasingly painful right shoulder ...yuck grammer.
anyway I am having an MRI tomorrow of it finally and will see a new doctor first one I did not like so am seeing a new one.
any body have them do I need to take some klonipin before I go?
bizi

Good luck with the MRI, Bizi. If you've never had one, I don't think it's a bad idea to take something to keep you calm. I know folks without any issues about small spaces who felt anxious in the tube. My other bits of practical advice are to visit the washroom beforehand and accept a blanket - it can be cold in there.

Cheers

Mri
 

Beth,

I've had three MRIs -- one of my knee and two of my head.
(The knee test left my head out side the machine, the first head test was in an open MRI machine, the second head test was tight and cramped but I was not bothered).

The worst thing about the MRI is having to be still. The techs are very clear that you cannot move during the test.
Find out a head of time how long the test lasts.

Sometimes the tech will ask you what radio station you want to listen to.
The tech will be in another room and will be able to talk and listen to you during the test.

The machine makes lots of noise. It sounds like banginng most of the time.

I did not feel anxious or claustrophobic but by the time I took the third (tight) test I knew what to expect.

Good luck.
It will be good to get some answers.

M.

I have had two MRI's and it's just like Mari described Beth. I would take the klono, definitely, just to help stay relaxed. Be prepared fo it to hurt really bad when the test is done and you finally get to move again, take it slow and you should be just fine. :)

thank you for the wonderful suggestions:
bathroom
klonipin,
blanket
I don't know if it is open or closed I should have asked.
bizi

Mari nailed it.
I use my time to daydream :D or plan something.
It's a good time to do nothing.
:hug:

Dear Bizi
 

sorry the first doc didn't work out... glad you are set up with a new one though.

MRI... especially if it is a closed machine and if they do not provide headphones/earmuffs/earplugs you might want to ask for them. it is really loud. i came out with a migraine - yes i am more sensitive in that regard, but the sound level alone can be bothersome to non-migraineurs. (when my dad had one done they put muffs on him without his even asking.)

For me i think keeping still was the hardest thing, mentally. now i don't recall - i may well have popped 2.5 mg ativan before to help with that... i felt pressure knowing i "MUST" keep still.

i am anything but claustrophobic so no issue for me there, but it certainly is a small space, which bothers many people.

a little extra klonopin is not a bad idea. bring it with if you are uncertain, and plan for a lift home if you think you might take enough to make you unsafe to drive.

if you know you will want the Klonopin if the machine is the closed-in type, perhaps call the facility before you go. they won't mind. it's a natural question to have. :hug:

((( HUGS )))

~ waves ~

It was a piece of cake!
hearing head set to muffle all of the noise!!!!
no radio though but only took 15 minutes.
I was in and out of there in less than half an hour!
Very organized, already have a film copy to give to my new ortho doc on next thursday, stopped by the first doc office to get copies of my exrays and the tech is only in on 2 days of the week!!!!
so I have to wait until next week to get them she said that she would call me when they were ready. I canceled the followup with her...felt sort of bad but the receptionist did not say a thing, and was still very nice to me.
thanks for all of your suggestions again I used them all!
bizi

Thanks for the update Beth! Glad it went so well! :D

AWESOME Bizi !!! :hug:

Well Done!
 

Dear Bizi

thanks for the update.
glad everything went well for you.
Good job on taking care of the cancellations... at least that is done with now. :hug::hug::hug:

~ waves ~

Bizi
Don't feel sorry about cancelling, they don't worry when they cancel on
you.

I am working dilengently to get my sons appointment back that was cancelled. For no real reason, and it will then take a lot longer to get
another one.

Doctor's offices are pains sometimes.

Donna

I really did not like the first ortho that I went to.
She did not listen to me....I told her I felt like my arm was coming out of my socket....she was more interested in all of my hospitalizations from mania etc, bipolar meds etc....I had attached a list of hospitalizations and meds and such ....so.... on the forms I just wrote see attached instead of writing everything out.
so it was a long list.
I also wrote that I thought I tore my rotator cuff. and she knew that I was a nurse so maybe her big ego did n't like me suggesting what I thought was wrong with my body....it is my body after all!
after a very quick exam she stated with glee that "at least your rotator cuff is intact." You have adhesions.
I said really?
I asked her if she wanted to do an MRI and she said no they only do them before surgeries.
then she tooks some exrays and came back in and said we should do an MRI......
~sigh
I am seeing a doctor who is highly recommended by my physical therapy friend and is "a shoulder specialist". I see him on thursday.
perfect!
bizi
I hate all of this...am mad that I have this injury it is going to take alot of effort to heal this shoulder. I am going to have have surgery, to miss work,
it is going to hurt...I am sorry I am not a good patient.....

Dear Beth,
These you will be taking one step at a time -- just like today's MRI was a step. You will be able to do this calmly and with peace.
That's great that you are feeling good about the shoulder ortho.
M.

Dear Beth
 

The old ortho sounds like she did have an attitude... and yeah, perhaps she felt like she needed to "assert" her authority because you are a nurse, too. but you know, i have run into docs (especially here!!!) that just *hate* when patients seem to be anything but oblivious, doctors who essentially like brainless carcasses. i do not appreciate that sort of treatment, myself.

And seeing a shoulder specialist is certainly a good choice. i hope this doc is patient- (and RN-) friendly!!! Probably, since your PT friend recommended them. I wish you well.

I am still holding onto the hope (if i may?) that it not be your rotator cuff and that you might not need the surgery. my mom had some shoulder problems and she lost mobility progressively... but she did not have to have surgery. she was in a lot of pain. clearly i can't possibly know if yours and her conditions were the same, or if docs there and docs here would even give the same treatment if it were. but i would like to hope you don't need surgery, until the doc sees you and makes the final call. ;)

Do try not to think too far ahead for now.

Good job getting the process going. I find that hard to do, no matter how necessary.

(((HUGS)))

~ waves ~

Ugh, the prospect of surgery isn't nice! Remember 'though that patients have only one luxury - to crib. It is their right and don't let anyone convince you otherwise. So go on, be as petulant as you want and as creative at it as you want. :wink:
From what you say, the doctor did obviously have an ego problems. Well she tripped, didn't she?

Beth, doctors (and the general population) take a morbid interest in first hand accounts of mental illness. Hypomania and beyond, schizophrenia, personality disorders e.t.c. to them are greatly entertaining. :eek: I once told a radiologist not to be a ghoul. I think I said something like, "Goodness, you are ghoulish, aren't you?", with a smile plastered on my face. :D She turned red, managed a crooked smile and shut up.

Dear Isis,
I wish we had a way to avoid the weirdo docs and another to find the good docs.
Finding these docs can be almost as hard as finding the good psychiatrists.
M.

And to think we pay these doctors so much money.
And they have the right to act like this.

UGH!!!!

Bizi, I can so sympathize with you. I'm still having lots of
trouble with my shoulders and even though I know that mine
is more to do with stiff muscles it doesn't help.

I go to see my primary tomorrow. I'm wondering if he will send
me to a ortho after that. I have been told my xray's showed
arthritis. So I also wonder if I'll be getting to see a arthritis doctor
too.

Donna:grouphug:


P.s. everyone is so good about praying for others, keep my mom in
your prayers please. She needs to see a spine doctor.

I had MRI's because I would pass out for no reason back in highschool. Now that I know I am bipolar I now know it was all related to my bipolar disorder. lol I remember my parents going what the hell is wrong with her she passes out and then is find in a matter of seconds when she is in the ER! lol Now we know why.

But the MRI is not as bad as you think. I closed my eyes. That was what I did and they put me in there. Then I thought about star trek episodes.

I am not very good at comforting. But I will tell you it was not that bad when I got it done at age 17 :hug:

WEll I see the new ortho tomorrow morning.
copies of exrays and MRI in tow.
I am not going to tell him that I am bipolar.....
At this point does it really matter?
IT is my shoulder!
I hope that he finds a little tear and that it will be a simple surgery....
keeping my fingers crossed.
bizi

Dear Bizi
 

I hope that everything goes well tomorrow morning. BF:hug::hug::hug:

No. It does not matter.
While discussing surgery you will need to give information about the drugs you are on 'though.
Yes I do hope you it's an easy surgery with the least recovery time.
Oh ... I also hope that the new ortho is decent and that you are comfortable.

self-reporting
 

Dear Beth,
I hope you get news about the MRI.

Go with your instincts.
Report your meds if you can.

I reported when I went to the ER because I really needed them to know the whole picture. No doc or nurse in the hospital ever cared about bipolar. They were focused on the stroke.

But outside the hospital (in doc offices) I often do tell them that I take Verapamil for bipolar. Otherwise they start carrying on and talking about my heart because they see Verapamil on my chart.


For an orthoped, maybe the meds don't matter much anyway.
You can always amend your record at some point if you need to disclose about psych meds.


Good luck with the orthoped. :)

When my mother tore her rotator cuff playing tennis, she used Traumeel:
http://www.traumeel.com/Traumeel_com_Home.homotox -- a Homeopathic product.
She said it helped a lot.

She got some physical therapy. She is back to to playing modified tennis less than two years later. The body can heal!



M.

Well I liked him,
he listened to me and I knew better what to say...
He dislocated my shoulder to tell me that it should not be able to do that...that is what it had felt like it was doing....the exrays and mri showed up something but don't remember what he said...
He ordered physical therapy for 4 weeks 3xweek. then probably another mri, this time with contrast which she should have ordered in the first place!!!!:mad:
and then probably surgery.....
not looking forward to therapy.....it is going to hurt...I have been avoiding the movements that cause pain and have lost range of motion so that means moving into the pain areas to regain range of motion..
thank you mari, I called and left a message about your homeopathic medicine and they have not returned my call yet.

bizi

Dear Beth,
I like him too. I like that you have confidence in him.
He's going to help you.
Try to be be patient with the process.

'Sending you get well vibes. :)

M.

Bizi

The physical therapy may hurt but it can also help with the process before
surgery. I know that the physical therapy I've been doing for the last three
weeks has been good for me. I'm still in pain, and the nurse practioneer seems to think its going to take a while longer. But I am not sorry its been helping to a degree.

Please make sure they give you some home exercises too. Also they
can do ultrasound and some other things to help with the pain.
Mine was to wide spread to do that. But I have a tens machine and
I am now able to use it.

Donna

This is throwing my whole system out of place...
I hate this....
I hate losing control...or this transperent sense of control...
i AM CRYING NOW...jsut hate this....throwing myself into a painful situation...jsut buck up and take it....
sigh
....
bizi

Bizi

i believe its going to be important that you get one very good therapist
doing the stuff. I have two that do mine. And they are both good.

I knew them both from before, but its because the girl that did the
evaluation is not there part of the time. That I've had two. So she
made sure the other one would be someone I was comfortable with.

Donna:grouphug:

Dear Beth,


Can you go back to the tdoc?
You need some help for this.

It is difficult to handle the stuff you are going through.

M.

Beth, it must be very difficult to be in so much pain ... and the idea of therapy would be scary.
I am so sorry.
On the bright side - you like the new ortho. That is important.

Do you have a regular psych - therapist that you can see? It'll help to talk with someone. Spouses, ... well, spouse - mine, very sweet and sympathetic but grossly wanting in handling frustrations, I need to see my therapist if I am really frustrated or need a good cry.

From me a great :hug: and a cyber shoulder to cry on.

Did the doc say anything about range of motion or keeping it loose?
*Might be best to check with dr before doing what i suggest below...

move your shoulder if you can without causing pain, to keep as much range of motion as possible.
just slow easy circles even if you need to lean forward to let it dangle and circle.

I don't want you getting frozen shoulder because of holding it still all the time.

quite a few members has had frozen shoulder - you can do a whole NT search to read more about their experiences..

2 small glasses of wine gets me tipsy:o

I have a quite a bit more range of motion this morning maybe it needed to be popped out and put back in...
I am hopeful this morning!:)
thank you for your support!
bizi

Beth, that is good to hear your shoulder is doing better.

Barbara

Beth
Even with more motion, please make sure you do the exerise that JoMar
suggested. Its one I do every day twice a day. 20 a day each way. And
its because of frozen shoulder just as she said. I have to admit, its still
something I worry about.

Donna:hug:

I am rolling my shoulder around and around and it crackles and pops?????
bizi

Dear Beth,
I wish I knew what sound you should (or should not) hear so I could help you.
Are you seeing the physical therapist this coming week?

M.

yes mari,
I start on monday 3 x week for 4 weeks
then see the doctor again.
some times my range of motion is better than others today not as good.
looking forward to getting started with therapy to know what I am supposed to be doing.
bizi

I like my physical therapist....
I have adhesive capsulitis, frozen shoulder.
MRI looks normal the report says.
we shall see.....
I have some exercises to do....
this is going to take along time to get better.
it did not get this way over night.
bizi

Dear Beth,
You are being patient.
Continue to keep faith in yourself and in your support team.
M.

Beth

Frozen Shoulder is really something that takes patience and time. So you
will take that please. Its what I was very close to having gone into.
I only waited 4 days, so I can totally understand.

And your so right its going to take time.

Donna