the lousy music helps, but the slams and bangs sometimes wake me up.

As an aside, I'm somewhat overweight-- not quite obese but still a tight fit in the thing. I asked what they do with huge people and they said something about the one at the Bronx Zoo. I have no idea if they were kidding about that, but it seems that there are a few oversized ones here and there for veterinary use.

The hospital I just left (I'm an ER RN) had a large MRI so we were able to accommodate people that weighed up to I think 400 or 425, and the opening was larger (as was the opening for our CT scanner) so individuals who had a large girth could be accommodated in our machines.

However, if our machines were down or the patient was over 425 or more than I want to say 63 inches around then they had to go to the local Zoo for their CT scan and/or MRI.

I'm sure the patients find it rather degrading to be taken to a zoo for imaging, but if they can't fit into a regular machine, it's either the zoo or nothing.

.... then when they diagnosed me with two herniated discs in my cervical spine (#s 5 & 6) from the MRI, they did nothing about it.

because there's a lot of stuff living in there that you don't want disturbed.

I have a C7-T1 fracture that I blew off as a sprain, it didn't hurt that much more than usual. They wouldn't have done anything for that, either, although every once in a while a bone fragment pokes into one of the nerves-OW!

I had a hard time staying awake in both, but not sure why. Maybe the repetitive sounds and sensations? Whatever it is, I kinda enjoyed it.

I never thought of myself as claustrophobic either, but if you're not one going in you might be one coming out.

I listened to classical music and kept my eyes shut throughout or I might have panicked. And the noise!

I was there to have my heart checked, but I can't imagine my heart behaving normally under those conditions.

for my cervical spine... I was just getting ready to post if anyone had any advice for me. I have a script for xanax and will take it before the test. I'm hopeful I will be somewhat relaxed and able to stay calm with that. I am worried the noise will kind of freak me out.

and there are special "open" ones, although I imagine there is a downside.

The only MRI I had was on a knee so only my legs were in the tube. But I didn't expect the level of noise (sounds like the machine is broken), or the amount of time it took.

I don't remember how they got him back out but they did.

It was to confirm a herniated disc that was causing sciatic pain that had me in tears. I had percoset by then, so getting around was possible. I closed my eyes when the platform brought me in, but as it turns out, my head was sticking out the other side so it wasn't bad. At that point, I welcomed anything that would provide a diagnosis, such was the pain.