redbird | Entries tagged with mri

I just got a message from my neurologist, which says "Your MRI showed no active lesions. This is good news," which it is.

Before that, I got an automated MRI report via MyChart, which says "no comparison available." This was surprising, because I told them the previous MRIs were at Mount Auburn, as well as annoying, because part of the point of regular MRIs is to look for changes.

So I called the Beth Israel Deaconess MS clinic and talked to the nurse. She looked at my record on their system and it has nothing at all about Mt. Auburn. She asked my permission to have Mt. Auburn send the records over, which I happily gave her, so she can talk to them, and get the records sent over. She said they might ask for written permission rather than her telling me that I'd given permission verbally. If so, she will get in touch with me, and I will fill out the appropriate forms and send them in; a single stamp is cheap.

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I have been to Mt. Auburn for my MRI scan, and had plausible food beforehand despite the weather (this sort of thing was easier when I was comfortable eating indoors), and I got home without being drenched. Glad I wore my rainshell, though (REI brand, Seattle knows about rain). This MRI isn't because anything specific is wrong, it's to confirm that nothing new has gone wrong, MS being like that.

When I said I wanted to give them my N95 mask at the same time as my glasses (both contain metal) the tech pointed at a hook, which suggests I'm not the only person who wanted to do it that way rather than switching into a surgical mask sans nose wire.

Also, the scan took less time than the scheduler had told me it would, which is fine with me (though I think more than the 20 minutes the technician said it would take). I had a little trouble getting my earplugs seated properly, but did get it right, much better than the scan two weeks ago.

The tech asked if I knew it was down as "without contrast," because usually for MS they do a scan with the (gadolinium) contrast medium. I told her that the doctor had said he was going to order it that way, but I don't remember what reason he gave. He's no longer at Mt. Auburn, so there was no convenient way to check and possibly reschedule while waiting to hear back from him (I have a new neurologist on paper, and on MyChart, but am not seeing her until December).

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MyChart now contains "automatically released" results from both MRI scans, which look as though nothing significant has changed. Also, they have added the name of ny neurologist to the list of providers, so I can use the MyChart system to send her a message if I want.

I overheard

adrian_turtle talking on the phone to her mother, and as I listened to her talk about our cat Molly something clicked. Yes the cat now has trouble seeing a treat two inches from her paw, but she's still leaping onto my desk from the floor or a chair without a problem. So, I suspect the cat isn't going blind, she's just becoming far-sighted, which would be much less of a problem. I don't think there are eye tests for cats --it's not as though you could get a cat to wear glasses or contact lenses--so that will remain somewhere between a guess and a working hypothesis.

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I got an automated MyChart message about my MRI results. It had two things, one of which I don't understand, and just sent the neurologist a message about:

I got the automated report on my recent MRI. What does

"2. New opacification of the sphenoid sinus."

mean? Is this clinically relevant?

The other piece of the results was unsurprising and reassuring (given the context): the test results (briefly described) are consistent with the MS diagnosis with a "stable burden of disease."

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I had another routine brain MRI this afternoon, at Mt. Auburn Hospital. I got to Cambridge early enough to get a cup of hot chocolate at Burdick's, which I drank on a nearby bench. I then took the bus to the hospital, arriving early enough that I sat and read on a bench outside the hospital for a bit..

The scan was fine, except that I had to remind the receptionist to pull her mask over her nose; she did so, but also told me that she knew how to do this (great, so do it right), is vaccinated, and hasn't had covid because she eats right. None of this was reassuring; I told her I was immune compromised, and stepped back for the rest of that conversation.

I then sat down at the opposite the waiting room and read for a while before being called in. The technician confirmed that I have no metal in my body, and asked how effective the earplugs I'd brought with me are, seemed a little skeptical, but didn't insist on giving me a set of disposable foam earplugs instead.

The scan took about half an hour. I had an easy and surprisingly uncrowded transit trip home. I described that for the monthly MBTA rider, since that email arrived while I was in Cambridge.

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Praise then darkness, and creation unfinished

Don't mourn, organize

MRI results: basically good

thoracic spine MRI

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MRI results

brain MRI

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