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Anyone had a full body scan when they have prostate cancer?
Prostate Cancer | Last Active: 1 hour ago | Replies (44)Comment receiving replies
I did have a full body MRI at Sloan after my BCR in addition to a pelvic MRI.
Let me just say that I will NEVER, EVER have another one unless I am completely anesthetized (out!)!!
The techs told me nothing about what to expect - intentionally now that I think about it. I was never claustrophobic before this event, but now I totally AM!
You are weighed down with about 60 lbs of sandbags to immobilize you and a polycarbonate catcher’s mask is screwed into place over your face, crushing your nose to prohibit movement.
You are then slid into a coffin-like tube (being generous with the dimensions) and spend the next 45 minutes in total hell; banging, clanging, whirring and screeching noises assault you as you struggle to breathe and not choke to death on the post nasal drip threatening to reach your larynx.
I’m telling you man, nothing you have growing inside you can be worse than this f***ing machine!
Phil
Replies to "I did have a full body MRI at Sloan after my BCR in addition to a..."
@heavyphil Oh my gosh, I had no idea it would be that brutal. I guess I just extrapolated from my own MRI's but those have only been partial body MRI's.
@heavyphil
This description made me laugh. I have had 10 MRIs: three for my knees, one for my shoulder, and six for prostate. I am tall enough that when I have my prostate MRI I can see out of the machine and look around the room. The toughest one for me was the shoulder as you’re completely enclosed in the tube. Once the technician told me to breathe normally , all I could think about was breathing. And there was no way I could breathe normally! MAYO CLINIC at Rochester does not give you music during the MRI. I asked why and one of the technicians told me there was too many people that start tapping or moving to the beat😉
I am claustrophobic and I recently had an MRI and PET/CT at MSK. I took 10mg of Diazapam (Valium) and I just closed my eyes through the whole test without a hitch!!! You can’t drive for a while after the test but you can get an Uber , etc. to get you home, etc.
@heavyphil
Wow! I'm so sorry this happened to you, Phil! Was this some time ago?
I had, I guess, a pelvic MRI when they were first investigating my prostate about a year ago, and it was nothing like that.
I wasn't restrained or weighed down in any way, just told to lie still. The tech carefully rolled up a couple of those yellow foam earplugs and inserted them for me, which I thought was very considerate.
The noise, although attenuated by the earplugs, was indeed pretty wild! I would describe it as being in a sort of demented sound bath, one that involved both mechanical and electronic sounds. It wasn't frightening so much as just plain weird.
I'm not prone to claustrophobia, so perhaps that was a factor in being able to relax enough that there wasn't anything traumatic to the experience.
Maybe "full body" is more of ordeal, though, and your experience sounds awful!
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@heavyphil - ...and the music they let you pick out to comfort you is drowned out by the banging, clanging, whirring, and screeching noises, so why bother. Never had a full body but 2 pelvis, 3 lumbar, and 1 shoulder. I am not looking forward to another.