MRI brain scan today- kind of got done info from the technician- confused?

[Panickypea]

Hi, I had an MRI scan on my head today which I was referred to have following several trips to the docs with headaches, dizziness and jerky eye movements that were driving me crazy. I've had HA for years but am so convinced there is something wrong with my brain. Can't stop thinking I might have a brain tumour :(

So he scan itself wasn't so bad, it was really loud and they put a helmet type thing on before you go in the tunnel. It lasted around 10 mins and I am VERY claustrophobic but I totally managed it! I was actually really calm, I just counted down the seconds until each scan finished. The guy talked to me the wholllle time too which was so so reassuring.

When I came out he explained the results would be sent t
I my GP in 5-7 days but I asked if he could give me any indication as I am really anxious, he kind of hummed and harred but asked me if I would like to see the pictures. He told me how he was not qualified to tell me anything but in his opinion nothing jumped out at him that was negative BUT the one thing he could see is my left sinus was blocked and enlarged- he said it's pressing on my left eye. I got scared and then asked him 'can you see a tumor though?' He laughed and kind of shrugged it off and said he doesn't think so but wasn't qualified to say.

I'm scared now that the blocked sinus could be a tumour?! Or would that have shown up?
Also I saw a little black bit in one side of my skull (everything else was symmetrical) and I'm nervous of what it could be? But surely the technician wouldn't have shown the images to me if he saw a tumour?

Sorry to go on- I'm just nervous

X

[.Poppy.]

Just out of curiosity, how long have your symptoms been going on?

I'm not a doctor, but it sounds to me like a blocked sinus is behind your symptoms. I doubt it's a tumor - lots of things can cause sinus blockages, and they can be very, very annoying to treat but not dangerous :smile:

I know it's hard, but try not to let yourself worry too much until the doctor's appointment. Your doc will be able to explain it all to you, and if you have any questions ask them. We like to jump to the conclusion that everything is a tumor but it is FAR more likely that you have a sinus infection or the remnants of one that is causing you trouble.

Feel better. :)

[Panickypea]

Hi Poppy, thanks for your reply! I've had the dizziness and headaches on and off for a long time, my eyes have been jerky for a year or two as well but have been getting much much worse recently and I've had a lot of trouble trying to decide whether it's anxiety related.

You're right though- no googling for me until my docs appt.

Do u have any of these symptoms?

Thank you again for your kind replies xx

[Jubnut]

Hi Panickypea,

I'm not a neurosurgeon (obviously), but I think black spots are just there there isn't anything there - I always thought the bright "weird looking" blobs means there is something.

My friend who is a doc said brain mris are always hard to interpret because almost always they find something "not in the guide book" and almost always they are not something to worry about. Tumors are rare and afaik they show up quite clearly in brain mri.

And the sinus thing, I think the worst case is there are polyps in Your sinus, or just be allergic, chronically or other stuffed, do not worry about it. Friend's dad has had cyst in sinus for all his life and it has not caused anything troublesome. Try not to worry.

Do you have stuffed nose all the time? I for example have, and it indeed does open up when using nasal spray but I don't want use it all the time. It is combination for smoking, sleeping on one side and allergy for me :)

[Serenity1990]

The MRI technicians are trained to twiddle the knobs on the machine and basically take a good photo. They're not doctors or nurses, they don't have any training whatsoever in interpreting MRIs. Everyone asks them the same question, and they all answer it just as awkwardly as they simply don't know.

[Panickypea]

Oh ok...yeah I guess. He did point out that he was not trained to interpret the results but he said he does at least 20 of these a day so surely he would recognise anything obvious?

Getting my results on Tuesday next week. Hope they're ok!

---------- Post added at 12:44 ---------- Previous post was at 12:43 ----------

Thanks jubnut- it's nice to get some reassurance. I get my results next Tuesday so I'll keep you all posted.

Thanks again xxx

[Serenity1990]

They may do twenty a day but they get to see the results of exactly zero of those. They take a good picture, then a radiographer - usually in an entirely separate building and department - looks at the photos and interprets them. Then the doctor who ordered it will usually view them, along with the radiographer's interpretation.

The MRI technicians are really just fancy photographers. A regular photographer might take photos of your skin, but he wouldn't be the chap to ask if you have skin cancer!

[fedup36]

I asked the technician the same question when I had my MRI scan -

Now I remember him saying this -

'I can't interpret the pictures and am not allowed to comment on the scan results, however if they found something serious they would call a doctor immediately and would have a team of doctors around you when your head pops out the machine'

He then said

'The fact your walking out of here should give you some reassurance'

Hope that helps :)

[Fishmanpa]

I can second the immediate response. When I went for my CT on my neck, I was in the machine a bit longer than expected and there was a doctor with the tech when I came out. Although they couldn't tell me everything that moment, I was scheduled within a couple of days to go over the results. Everything was stat.

Positive thoughts

[RaverNeko]

I'm really glad you were able to go through the MRI okay, :)

I have to agree with the fedup36 here. If there was something seriously wrong, then a ton of doctors would swarm the room and not let you leave until they fixed what was wrong with you.

There's tons of stories on here of people who got an MRI and turned out to be fine. I'm still a new member here, but I don't ever recall hearing anybody's MRI gone bad. I completely understand the anxiety of waiting for your results, but I'm absolutely positive that they will be fine and you don't have some life threatening illness or anything like that, :)

[Panickypea]

It does fedup36 :) thank you. I called my doc today and I'll be going to see my GP next Tuesday for the results.

Yeah you're probably right serenity1990 but I'm just trying to take any sort if comfort from what he said- hope I'm not being naive :-(

---------- Post added at 17:43 ---------- Previous post was at 17:41 ----------

Thanks so much everyone, I'm a new member and just feel totally overwhelmed with all the support and positive thoughts.

I will keep you posted xxx

[RaverNeko]

Y'know, I wanted to add onto something you said: While the people that operate the MRI machine may just he fancy photographers, I'm sure they'll be able to tell if something is seriously wrong. Think about it: How many MRI's do they do in the day? At one point in their career, they probably saw something nasty in the MRI that caused doctors to flood the room and give the patient immediate help. With that in mind, the MRI operator, although still not qualified to make any kind of diagnoses, will probably have a general idea of what's okay and what's not okay based on his experiences.

I also second your thought on the community on here. It's been a big help on keeping my health anxiety in check and to reassure myself that I'm not dying all the time. While I've never had an MRI, I completely understand the anxiety that you're probably going through when waiting for your results. My advice will be to take a deep breath, don't Google, and enjoy a nice hot tea to relax your body and rejuvinate your soul.

Happy thoughts!

[Serenity1990]

Well clearly they will be able to tell if there's something blatantly wrong like a tumour, as that requires immediate medical attention and looks like a golf ball squished in there with your brain. But aside from the very obvious they have no training at all on the more subtle things. Which is why it's not appropriate to ask them. I asked and read too much into the reply and worked myself into a state for three weeks waiting. In fact I may as well have shown the pictures to my golden retriever and assessed his reaction to them.

Yes if you walked out of there you almost certainly don't have a brain tumour or anything likely to kill you. No they cannot tell you any more than that.

[Panickypea]

Thanks so much RaverNeko I am trying my best to keep calm and carry on as they say.

I hope you're right in what you guys think in terms of no awful illness.

Thanks again guys

Xxx

[UKmamainUS]

I don't understand why people think that the MRI technician would necessarily know if something is wrong. I mean, just cos you look at something all day every day, doesn't mean you know what you are looking at unless someone has actually sat down and explained the details of what it is you are looking at. They might see something in one person that looks different to another, but that doesn't mean that they know what those differences mean.

[Panickypea]

Whilst I appreciate your comments, I don't think they are necessarily helpful to someone who is trying to take comfort in the small possibilities. As I explained in one if my earlier posts, they may be naiive but they are what is keeping me hopeful I guess.

Thanks anyway x

[Jubnut]

I don't know why people dismiss the knowledge of those techicians. At least here in Finland techinican goes through 5 year training which includes extensively going through different kinds of cases diseases and the practical know-how how to identify possible problem areas. This includes also study of reporting the findings for the doctor, who is interested in the problem areas that the techician should know how to focus on. I presume they don't type in "found lots of white blobs and gunk". Even the fact they know when to call a doctor tells they are somewhat educated on the matter...

Techicians aren't as well educated as neurosurgeons of course, mainly because i presume there are thousands of different abnormalities, syndromes and diseases - you propably haven't seen neurosurgeon that is also an expert for gastrology too. They also have limited time because the next patient is always waiting.

There even could be some law forbiding them to tell the findings, but im sure if a techician tells you that you shouldnt panic is better than people on the internet questioning their ability.

Don't worry, like people on this thread already told you, if something was definitely wrong there would have been a doc there.

Take care and always remember, that people here are helpful and awesome but this is still the wild wild web so every opinnion (even mine) should be taken with a grain of salt :D

[UKmamainUS]

Seriously? I don't see what I said that could take away your hope - in fact I thought I was being helpful. I certainly didn't mean to, but if you interpreted it that way, well so be it. Maybe next time you will as the tech to do your tax returns too, since they are not trained for that either!

[Jubnut]

Since tech training includes studying analytic programming, I'm pretty sure they would fare well doing tax returns ;)

[Panickypea]

I'd love him to do my tax returns as they are a pain in the neck :)

Take care xx

[Panickypea]

Hi all- I just wanted to update you. I had my doctors appointment to follow up from my MRI scan. Doc told me that my brain was in the normal bracket apart from a part beginning with P that was very prominent - I tried so hard to remember the word but guess it's better I didn't remember or if have just googled and carried this on further!!

So guess what my symptoms have ebbed away apart from my eyes which I'm going to see an opthomologist on Tuesday.

I'm so grateful for the NHS, and know that it's not productive to seek reassurance all the time- I'm looking into some therapy now.

Thanks for all your support xx

[Serenity1990]

God news, this means you can pretty much stop worrying about the worrying stuff!

The first consultant who looked at my MRI just said it was completely normal. The other one stared open-mouthed at it for five minutes and told me it was the most beautiful specimen he had ever seen. He was a bit eccentric. :roflmao:

[RaverNeko]

I'm really happy for you! I commented on your thread a while ago and I'm estatic that it all went well! I had a feeling that everything would work out for the best! :hugs:

[SADnomore]

Yay!! And good for you on the decision on the therapy! Woo hoooo! :D
Marie xx