MRI scan

[lonelyboy]

Please feel free to move to another more appropriate section if necessary.

I had my MRI yesterday, I was feeling quite anxious for a week or so beforehand but it turned out to be ok, I had tried to find out the procedure beforehand with little success which I think contributed  to my fear, so this is for those that like to know in advance what may happen, although your experience may differ from mine.

I arrived at UCHL with 10 mins to spare, the admin team had called on the Monday to check I was still up for it, and reiterated that I needed to be there an hour beforehand, I had missed this in the letter so good job they reminded me, otherwise it would have been a wasted 6 hours travelling and a missed days pay.

I got a coffee and found Xray, filled in the form about metal bits embedded in your body and sat down, within a few minutes they called me and led me through to the MRI area and had me sit outside.

A healthcare person came out and checked through the metal bits form with me, and at the end I asked her if I would need an injection, she said she'd check and get back to me quickly, she came back with another chap (technician?) who was higher up the chain of command who said yes I would need the jab, he explained the procedure and we went through the form again.

I asked if Viagra and/or muse would be an acceptable substitute (I had brought some just in case and still had an hour before the MRI) and he said he doubted it but would get the Dr to see me and explain, he showed me where to change into a gown and then back into the waiting area, and gave me a sheet to read and sign with an explanation of the aprostadil injection and on what to do for priapism.

A few minutes later the same chap led me to a bay with an exam table and curtain and went to get the Dr, he came back a few mins later and introduced us then left, the Dr explained that the injection is preferred because it is much more controllable, the dose is enough to give a semi which is all they need, then we went through the form again.

I laid back and thought of England, and the Dr injected into the left side of my penis, very slight sting but really nothing, noted the time on my priapism sheet, said I shouldn't leave the hospital until the erection had subsided and wasn't happy about me driving back before but I said I'd be home before the 4 hours window, the local hospital had a urology unit and that I had 4 sudafed for emergencies, so he was ok with that and left me to relax.

It was a little weird, I didn't feel my penis growing and thought it wasn't working but when I checked it was a comfortable chubby, nothing to write home about though.

I think maybe 10-15 mins later the technician came for me and led me back to the MRI antichamber and waited there for another 5-10 mins, then finally inside the room he had me lay on the MRI bed feet toward the scanner, handed me a couple of gauze pads to place between my belly and penis with my underpants helping to hold it in place, then a couple of largish sausage shaped pads either side of my penis on the outside of the gown and then the body coil (google MRI coil penis) was strapped over the top with my arms out of the way on my chest.

He handed me the emergency call and popped some headphones on me and raised the bed up and into the scanner and left, lots of loud chung-chung noises and what seemed half an hour later he came to get me out.

Off to change back into my clothes and sat out in the main foyer for 10 mins or so to get my head back into gear, and then made my uneventful way home, no need for the sudafed and certainly no need to get worked up about it and now I'm finally on the way to a definitive diagnosis.

Hope this helps.

[james1947]

Thanks for the detailed post.

James