Just over ten years ago I was diagnosed with cancer and along with the obvious shock, fear and worry about the disease itself came other fears.
One of the most difficult experiences was having an MRI scan. It’s a really important tool for diagnosis and you’d think with everything else going on,having a scan would be the least of your worries. But I’m claustrophobic so it was a huge ordeal and one that I wouldn’t like to experience again.
Cross Section MRI Scanner - National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Recently I’ve been in Windsor experiencing a machine which makes all those fears evaporate. I met Harry , who has prostrate cancer and knew after his first scan in a conventional MRI that, no matter how serious his condition, or how important the diagnosis, he’d never be able to get in one again.
So he was relieved to realise that there is now an alternative which takes all the anxiety away. The “open” MRI scanner is just what it says it is – a scanner which doesn’t feel in the least claustrophobic.
I thought it was worth flagging up because if you, like Harry and myself have huge anxiety about confined spaces and you know you need regular MRIs, it’s worth knowing there is an alternative.