Had my Scan

[Photogeek]

Hi Folks

Hope all the usual suspects are well. I had my MRI Scan this afternoon , and what

A noisy business it was. I never had one before . The Radiographertried to put

Me at ease and when I went in , they gave me headphones with a noisy Radio

Station on it, which was more irritating than the noise. I was really proud

Of myself in that I managed to practice my Mindfullness Meditation , it really

Helped me, so if I can Meditate there I can meditate anywhere .

I will be seeing Consultant next week to see the results and discuss next

Step. I enclose Photo of my Large Cat Luna really chilling out, she is one relaxed

Cat.

Hugs to all and apology if I have not been quite with it this week, I'm not

Sure if it's those new Tablets I'm on Lyrica, they make me feel a bit spaced

Out, I do things and then later think " Did I do that or write that" ? , Well

It must have been me as I'm the only one here. Lol.

I am so missing not being able to go for walks, as I'm hobbling around

With a stick. Part of me thinks " will I ever get back to the way I was" . God

I hope so, but part of me is fairly scared and worried .

Hugs to all, and hope all Cat fans like Luna

Hannah xx

[Suzie40]

Oh Hannah I hope I never need to have an MRI because there is no way I could go in one of those tunnel things. They'd have to knock me out first! Glad you managed though - the horrendous radio station was probably in welsh; that's usually a fairly painful experience! Hopefully the results will be conclusive and the doctor will be able to treat you effectively.

Love the picture of Luna! Can you ask her what she makes of all her cousins roaming around this hotel? Everywhere you go there are stray cats, Katie is delighted!

[Photogeek in reply to Suzie40]

Thanks Lucy, yes at first I thought " oh no I can't go in that tunnel" .I suppose I've been in such pain that I knew it was the only definitive way to get

It sorted. I Thank God I got through it.

Glad Katie is loving all the Greek Cats, how are you Lucy, I hope your

Ok too.

Luv n hugs to all of you three.

Hannah x

[21esme]

Hannah,

Pleased you got through the scan. I haven't had one but know they can be really claustraphobic and you have to stay still for ages. This is the best chance for them to find out what is going on in your back and plan the best way to treat it and get you back out walking. X

I have always been a cat lover and love your cat. She looks an intelligent girl. The size of her paws! She is bigger than my jack russell cross puppy!

Sarah x

[Photogeek in reply to 21esme]

Yes Sarah she is a big cat. She was a teeny tiny rescue cat, but like

Topsey she just growed and growed.

Oh I like Jack Russell's, they are real little characters. My friend called to me

Yesterday and said Lunais bigger than her Dog.

What are you up to for weekend? . Hope you have a lovely weekend

Anyway. I love name Sarah it's one of our Family names, my late

Dad's sister was Sarah too, she never married but was a lovely

Looking woman, and lived to be 88. Sarah sorry for rambling on.

Hugs to you

Hannah x

[Hidden]

Hi Hannah,

I'm glad the scan went well - yes the scans are noisy, aren't they - I found it so hypnotic that I shut off from the noise and almost fell asleep as a way of coping!

What's Lyrica for - I haven't heard of it.

I can appreciate exactly how you feel about not being able to walk well - when ever my fibromyalgia flares up I feel despair - but manage to block off from the feeling in order to get on with living as life's too short to give up on living it!

Are you in pain all the time, I hope not as that is so debilitating. I'm not sure whether you have a firm diagnosis and whether the pain is due to one kind of joint problem or more than one, but understanding exactly what's going on is the first step to beating it or at least easing the pain - knowledge is power as they say. I researched everywhere I could find and have managed to make my pain manageable even though I do still get pain - last night I walked 3 miles with the local Healthy Living team, before walking I had sciatic pain in my hips and sharp shooting pain in my ankles but although I felt worried whether it would get worse I carried on regardless and managed the walk as well as anyone. By the end I was in no more pain than before although I have slept 10 hours so it must have tired me. On Sunday I will be doing 7 miles in the Lake District and will probably need painkillers to manage it. Is there anything you can do to ease your pain so you can still go for walks?

Luna's beautiful and I like the name too. I adore cats, they are so affectionate.

Take care, and keep in touch. I love seeing the people I know write on the website, it makes me feel connected to friends although we have not met.

Suexx

[Gambit62]

glad you got through it and hope you get some answers soon ... and a solution that means you can get out and walk.

[Binky1]

Hi Hannah

I've been wondering how you're doing, sent you a PM last wk but don't know if you got it

That's good you've managed the scan so well done for that as that would've been stressful for you

At least now you should get a proper diagnosis of what's wrong & hopefully get the right treatment .. it's such a shame you're suffering with this pain

Luna is beautiful, it's lovely to have a cat .. my friend has 9 cats!

Take care Hannah & look after yourself

Lesley xx

[bepete]

Well done Hannah , hope the results go in your favour .

pete xx.

[Stilltrying_]

Hi Hannah, well done for getting through the MRI. I don't like them either; I've had two seperate lots at 40 minutes each; yes they are noisy! The headphones and the music really helped me a lot; it made me think of Deaf people and they would not have that to concentrate on; don't know what it must be like for them; I know they can't hear the noise but you are completely enclosed which isn't nice.

Yes meds can make you feel spaced out ; I know the feeling! Horrible for you to be hobbling. Yes i think it will improve or you will have good periods and not so good periods; I hope the scan sheds some light on things for you. It's good they have done it. MRI's don't always point to a cause but they can do. Mine came out "essentially normal" both times ( I had one done on all three areas of the spine both times ): it drove me crazy as I was in so much pain and I felt not believed ; but since then I have come to understand that this can be the case sometimes; apparently some people's backs look a terrible mess but they are not aware of being in much pain and others appear "essentially normal" with "normal wear and tear" and yet they are in a deal of pain.

They can be very useful though for point out things like facet problems and trapped nerves and I know you have RA too so it is different for you and RA is very painful indeed; so fingers crossed they find something Hannah that they can treat and you can start to recover a little.

Luna is a lovely cat. X

Hugs to you,

Gemma XXXX

[LittleAine29]

Hi Hannah, Luna is lovely thank you for posting her. I have two cats Smokey Mokey who is a Russian Blue and Frisky Whisky who is white with black bits. I rescued them both from dire circumstances. Smokey was going to be drowned in the sea and Whisky was in a tiny cage as entertainment for a mental teenager who had no interest in her whatsoever as she was totally spaced out on drugs most of the time.

I have had a scan too and I just went to sleep. I had been told all sorts of horror stories about it before hand like the juice they give you tasting vile. I loved it and drank the whole lot in a onner and asked for some more ! They said it was scary, noisey and uncomfortable in the scanner, nope, I got settled and went straight to sleep, in fact I was annoyed when it was all over and they woke me up to go back up to the ward ! To be honest I really enjoyed my 9 days in hospital even though I was attached to a drip stand most of the time, but I soon got the hang of that

On a bad day I too wonder if I will ever get better I have cronic AF which makes me breathless all the time and I also have very painful water retention in my legs. I have tried loads of the doctors tablets and had all the nasty side effects but not any of helpful stuff from them. I have now come off everything except the warfarin and a water tablet and apart from that I am going down the herbal route. I had a blood clot on my right kidney and that is why I was in hospital, they said it was unlikely to ever work again. Thanks to the herb solidago it is working at somewhere around 15% at the moment. I rub horse chestnut cream on my legs and that stops them being so painful and I take hawthorn and garlic for my heart. I feel so much better than I did when I was on all the doctors heavy duty drugs. The herbs have given me light at the end of my tunnel X

[Photogeek]

Hi Littke Aine thanks for reply , sorry I'm only replying now, AsI find I

Get tired very easily at the moment. Thanks again for all advice and

I hope your ok, and get the strength to keep going on, it's not easy is it,

But we have great support here.

Hugs

Hannah