Cat scans? i've got a question?

i'm getting a cat scan (for my head) in a week. can someone tell me what the scan is like because i have no idea? what exactly will i have to go through? i'm a tad bit nervous

You lie down on a bed and the bed moves quickly through a cylindrical machine. All you have to do is lie still. The whole thing will be done in a few minutes. You'll spend more time sitting in the waiting room then in the machine. If they want to use contrast, you'll probably get scanned twice -- once without contrast and once with. The contrast is injected through an IV.

This is not to be confused with an MRI which takes longer and involves you going inside a large cylindrical magnet and staying there for a while. People with claustrophobia have trouble with MRIs and often have to be sedated to help them relax and keep still.

That being said, if this is cancer related, it would be unusual to get a CT scan instead of an MRI....unless you have metal in your body that would make an MRI contraindicated.

They may or may not use contrast dye. If they do, it is just given through an iv and other than actually inserting the iv, you wont feel anything from it.

You will lay flat on a bed, and there will be a nice large magnet spinning around your head. It is loud. You can ask to have a cloth put over your eyes of you want so you dont see it, though you may not be able to wear ear plugs bc you will need to be able to hear the tech talking to you through a mic from the next room. If you are overly anxious, talk to your referring doc to see if you can get orders for a dose of ativan or the like before the scan. They may or may not give it to you. The only that has been done on my brain I was pretty drugged for before hand, but the others I have had lasted anywhere from a few mins to 20 mins.

Edit: Seems ppl think I am speaking of an MRI. Im not. This is my experience with a series of about 10 ct scans of my chest cavaty over the last month.

All you do is lie there while this tube goes around you. No big deal at all. If it isn't done with contrast it only takes 5-10 minutes.

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