View Full Version : Private MRI Booked for Wednesday.
So I saw my GP on friday, the experience was a nightmare.
The consultation was lead by a junior doctor and my usual GP supervised. I was not asked in advance if I was happy for this and they just carried on without saying anything!
Started from scratch talking to the jnr doctor about my neck pain. He did checks on my neck and back etc and concluded I had lost muscle mass causing strain on my spine.
They have referred me for physio.
I went mad and said I was not happy because I'd had the swollen glands since May and been complaining about the neck pain but nobody was listening about the neck pain and nobody had checked me over like that before.
They deny all knowledge of me complaining of neck pain!!!! I cant believe it.
After a lengthy consultation, I then finally got round to why i was there - i told them i wanted a private MRI. They took some pursuading but now Ive got the referral and its booked for wednesday.
I have since complained to the doctor today on the phone and he has listened carefully to all of my concerns the past few months.
They say that they acknowledge I had neck pain but that I had not consistently complained about it in appointments. They said that i was complaining about sore glands and worrying about cancer. They said they ruled out cancer with the CT scan for my reassurance - and then they were focused on my anxiety by treating me with anti depressants and valium.
He said that I should have told them that i was still suffering neck pain after the CT scan was clear. The thing is - I DID!!! I DID TELL THEM!
All along I have just wanted to find out what my neck pain was - it was THEM that told me my glands were swollen. THIS sent me into a panic and googling about glands! THAT is what started this whole saga.
I told them I was taking painkillers everyday for the neck pain! They told me it was anxiety!
Now it takes a junior doctor to refer me for physio!!!!
I have demanded the private MRI scan because its been on my mind so long i just need it over with.
it sounds like my glands have nothing to do with it whatsoever!
we shall see what the MRI says!!!
I hope the private MRI will give you some reassurance, although it must be costing you a fortune! If the CT scan was clear then I wouldn't imagine it to be anything serious, probably muscular. I had ongoing pain in my back for months and was convinced I had cancer. I eventually got referred for chiropractor treatment and by the time that referral came through I had moved into a new obsession and the back pain had totally gone. It was so painful for months and I was so preoccupied with it but in the end it was all tension.
nomorepanic
13-01-14, 19:24
i would try the physio first then do the MRI if it doesn't help but that is just me and I wouldn't want to spend so much money on a test that is probably not necessary.
Reassurance is free here ;)
Positive thoughts
My MRI is tomorrow and is £400 plus £100 for any additional images.
---------- Post added at 19:59 ---------- Previous post was at 19:58 ----------
I think it's worth every penny, just to have peace of mind. And I'm not rich my any means
Not if you don't want to be on a waiting list.
It's free & you could wait up to 3 months
You could only wait up to 3 months in the event that a GP was pretty much certain there was nothing to indicate anything life threatening.
An MRI is only free when a GP is willing to refer you for one which again would be based on a clinical assessment of symptoms. It guess it would be possible to convince a GP to refer you for an MRI for reassurance but you shouldn't get one free of charge for that purpose.
How long is a waiting list for an NHS MRI scan and is it free?
They are free but it can take a while to get one. I did about 4 months of physio before i got my MRI. I told them i wanted to go private and that's when they finally sent me for one. Turned out i had benign tumours in my spine and protruding disc.
I feel for Darren, i know exactly what it's like with useless GPs. After over a year with back and leg pain i'm not really further with any more tests or treatments. Had a steroid injection but that's it.. mainly been reffered to different places which is then another 2/3 month wait. Good luck with your MRI, if had the money i would have went private as well.
Good luck :-) Glad it turned out your glands were okay in the end.
hi all
its only costing me £195 because its just one part of my body (neck)
the amount quickly adds up, it's £195 per body part.
i have to wait 5 days for the results unfortunately.
if they find something my GPs have some serious questions to answer.
if they find something my GPs have some serious questions to answer.
And when they don't find anything serious? I don't doubt you have pain but based on the length of time it's been there, it really does present as a physio issue and not sinister. You've been chasing your tail for close to two years. What happens when you catch it and discover it's only a tail? Sorry to be blunt but you've been seeking after a serious ailment for a long time and nothing has come up. That's just a lot of life to waste. Good luck with the scan.
Positive thoughts
if they find something my GPs have some serious questions to answer.
And if they don't, are you going to cut them some slack and admit that they have not been negligent and that what you need is a physiotherapist and not a doctor?
I had my MRI today, even though the radiographers can't confirm 100% that everything's perfect! they did indicate that nothing obvious was there! I also received a CD copy of images. As a paying costumer. Which has calmed me down significantly today. Still vision issue but if this is anxiety which I have to still convince myself. Then hopefully my vision will return in good time. X
AuntieMoosie
15-01-14, 00:04
Darren I have to agree with Nic and others.
If it were me, I would try the physio first, even more so now that the other doctor mentioned muscle.
Darren what concerns me most about all of this, is what are you going to do if you are told that the MRI is perfectly clear and there's no problem??
What is going to be your next move??
Are you going to leave the surgery being happy that you've been told that all is well??
Or, are you going to leave the surgery either not believing what you've been told or still believing that there is something serious going on??
I would really love to think that it will be the first option, but, I suspect that it may be the second.
Then what??
It really saddens me that you are suffering like this Darren, you're so young and you have so much life ahead of you and so much to look forward too.
I very much doubt that anything nasty is going to show up in your MRI Darren, I believe that your doctor knows that too, which is why he was reluctant to refer you the first time round.
Serious illnesses, like cancer, and many others too, have clear indicators to doctors, doctors are trained to pick up on them straight away, so, to my mind, the fact that they haven't tells me that all is well on that score.
I'm not saying that there's nothing wrong with your neck and I believe that you are experiencing pain, but I would guess, it's probably a muscular thing or something like that.
I'm not a doctor Darren, but I would have thought that if you had cancer, after this amount of time, a lot more things would be happening and it would be apparent that you were very ill.
I do hope that all goes well for you when you have your scan Darren, but should the results be clear, I think it would be a good idea to start working on your anxiety, otherwise you're going to continue going round and round in circles. Like I said, you've got all of your life in front of you, get yourself into a position where you can have fun and enjoy it Darren.
:hugs: :hugs:
Hi Darren,
I've not been around much so I missed this initially. Today is the big day!
You know I support your decision to do this. I don't think you will be able to move on from this until you have it done and see that there is nothing (at least nothing deadly) there. We've all been there.
Let us know how it goes. x
So I saw my GP on friday, the experience was a nightmare.
The consultation was lead by a junior doctor and my usual GP supervised. I was not asked in advance if I was happy for this and they just carried on without saying anything!
Started from scratch talking to the jnr doctor about my neck pain. He did checks on my neck and back etc and concluded I had lost muscle mass causing strain on my spine.
I think the MRI is a complete waste of time and money but I genuinely hope the scan went well and you get the all clear quickly.
The part of your post I have highlighted in bold - it is because that is what EVERYONE has been telling you all along. You have a muscular pain most likely caused by anxiety and lack of conditioning. You really need to attend the physio and follow through whatever recommendations they make, otherwise the problem has no chance of getting better.
Hi everyone thanks for the support
I had my MRI at 4.30 and it took a lot longer than i anticipated. However I don't suffer claustrophobia so it really didn't bother me.
No results were given to me afterwards, I have been given a CD but not going to look at it.
Results should be with my GP within 1 week - now waiting for the call.
I am coping extremely well, I think part of me is starting to believe the doctors.
I have said all along that if the neck pain can be addressed then I won't worry about it anymore. What my mind finds hard to accept is that I was so fit before this, I went to the gym 3 x a week and was doing really well. The sudden onset of pain in my neck and the doctor finding my glands were swollen - I just can't get my head around it.
For those who think I have wasted my money, I strongly disagree. Yes it would be nice to spend £195 on something else but I could not go on with my life thinking "this is my last drink" "this is my last christmas with the family" etc etc - I am really hoping this will be the line in the sand - I won't know that until I know how I react to the results. I could not forgive myself if I did not have this scan and further down the line something cropped up. Atleast now I have the comfort I have done what I can.
YES I am going to have the physio, that is without a doubt. I really hope it works because I need pain relief.
Hi everyone thanks for the support
I had my MRI at 4.30 and it took a lot longer than i anticipated. However I don't suffer claustrophobia so it really didn't bother me.
No results were given to me afterwards, I have been given a CD but not going to look at it.
Results should be with my GP within 1 week - now waiting for the call.
I am coping extremely well, I think part of me is starting to believe the doctors.
I have said all along that if the neck pain can be addressed then I won't worry about it anymore. What my mind finds hard to accept is that I was so fit before this, I went to the gym 3 x a week and was doing really well. The sudden onset of pain in my neck and the doctor finding my glands were swollen - I just can't get my head around it.
For those who think I have wasted my money, I strongly disagree. Yes it would be nice to spend £195 on something else but I could not go on with my life thinking "this is my last drink" "this is my last christmas with the family" etc etc - I am really hoping this will be the line in the sand - I won't know that until I know how I react to the results. I could not forgive myself if I did not have this scan and further down the line something cropped up. Atleast now I have the comfort I have done what I can.
YES I am going to have the physio, that is without a doubt. I really hope it works because I need pain relief.
Darren,
Scanxiety is a common problem even with people that don't have anxiety-it's natural to be a bit worried before/after a CT or MRI even if you are perfectly healthy.
Still, a thing to comfort you-radiologists would phone you IMMEDIATELY if they found something fishy. The fact that you have to wait for your GP to read the results-that in 99% cases means they're normal and radiologists have other, more sick people to care about and they put you into the normal speed of events.
It always takes a bit longer time than expected-when I had MRI, they told me the whole thing lasts about 15 minutes but it was about 30 minutes for me (20 minutes for the scanning, plus ten minutes for dye administering, changing clothes twice and so on).
No worries though, in 7 days your GP is going to give you the all clear :)
I think it's worth expert penny. I got a cd too my I have a Mac, and it doesn't read .jar files. I want to look. Had a good chat with the radiographers (both ladies) and discussed anxiety and they gave me the inducation that nothing obvious could be seen. Something to latch onto. For now.
Hi Darren, glad the scan went well. There almost certainly isn't anything serious there or they would have told you. But I think it's good you've had it done, because sometimes people with chronic neck issues do have some minor disk problems or nerve compression that can be fixed. And if that was the case it would better to find out sooner rather than letting things get worse.
I'm so glad your scan was clear now you can give your poor mind a rest .
( not a good thing to say jayzi about the tumour on a health anxiety forum )
Well done on biting the bullet Darren. I remember how afraid you were of doing this - scared of what they could find and yet feeling unable to move on without that final assurance.
I am certain that once you are given the all clear you will be able to move on and give your all to physio.
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