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Posted 9/12/2016 10:04 PM (GMT 0)
HI,

My adult daughter is on Humira for Crohn's. She needs to have an MRI enterography. Has anyone had one where your head is not in the MRI machine in the Los Angeles area? Or if you have had an open MRI enterography some place that may be an option (I found open MRI's for things other than enterographies.) If you could tell me about that it would be great as she cannot deal with her head being in the MRI machine and said she will not do it again. Unfortunately, she needs to get the procedure.

Thanks.
Posted 9/12/2016 10:35 PM (GMT 0)
I had one at the hospital in Santa Monica (I think it's UCLA). It was a rough procedure for me. It was long and they make you drink a bunch of barium, which gave me the craps, but I survived.
Posted 9/12/2016 10:56 PM (GMT 0)
Hi,

I recently had one in June 2016, I am 5' 4" tall, the edge of my head was out. It all depends how tall you are. At my hospital the MRI tube is roughly 4' in length. Depending how tall you are will depend if your head is out of the machine. Your stomach area needs to be in the middle of the machine. If you are 6 feet tall your head will be out for sure. Ativan helps a lot of patients who are claustrophobic.

The stuff you have to drink is 1-8oz glass every 15 min for 1 1/2 hours. Mine was water mixed with sucrose (sweetner) that I was allowed to add a flavouring to. And yes it made me go to the bathroom after, almost felt like a colonoscopy prep. That doesn't happen to everyone.
Posted 9/12/2016 11:36 PM (GMT 0)
Just make sure the radioactive fluid is within the small intestine before the procedure. Too soon and it'll still be in the stomach and the test is a bust/waste of everyone's time. Have the tech check before the test!
Posted 9/14/2016 7:15 PM (GMT 0)
Nososicklygirl,
Thanks for your response. My daughter went for an MRI at a UCLA outpatient place in Santa Monica. Maybe it was the same place. Unfortunately, she didn't go through with the procedure. Congratulations on doing the procedure.
Posted 9/14/2016 7:19 PM (GMT 0)
Dx4Tx,

Thanks for your response. I called some hospitals in the LA area and could not find one where my daughter's head would have been outside the machine (She's 4'6"). Where was the hospital you went to?

Thanks.
Posted 9/14/2016 7:22 PM (GMT 0)
iPoop,

Thanks for your response. I'm confused - I think the fluid she will be getting is not radioactive - is radioactive fluid used for MRIs? Also, how would the tech check to make sure the fluid is in her small intestine?

Thanks.
Posted 9/14/2016 8:04 PM (GMT 0)
When empty, opposite walls of the small intestine touch (like when you set a tshirt or sock on a table) and that's not very helpful when imaging it. What they want to see is the details of the small intestine when it's expanded. So, to image that small intestine properly, they'll have you swallow a contrasting dye before that procedure. That dye has to be at the right place at exactly the right time for the images to be useful (don't want it pooled in your stomach). So, I'd just ask the tech, and make sure they're not rushing things. The test and fast before it is a pain, so you just want to avoid repeating it unnecessarily.
Posted 9/14/2016 8:27 PM (GMT 0)
iPoop,

Thanks for the explanation.

Debbie
Posted 9/14/2016 8:46 PM (GMT 0)
Hi DebbieCrohns,

I had mine done in Ontario, Canada. The drink they give you here is not radioactive, it's usually sucrose mixed in water or metamucil mixed in water. One glass every 15 minutes totaling 6 glasses which takes an hour and half. The drink is to expand the small bowel. Here they also give the patient an IV of gadolinium which is used as a contrast per se, the GAD goes into your system about 1/2 way through the exam. Also just before you go in the machine they also give buscopan 10mg to slow down the GI tract. The time in the machine is approx 45 min.

Hope this info help....
Posted 9/14/2016 10:55 PM (GMT 0)

DebbieCrohns said...
Nososicklygirl,
Thanks for your response. My daughter went for an MRI at a UCLA outpatient place in Santa Monica. Maybe it was the same place. Unfortunately, she didn't go through with the procedure. Congratulations on doing the procedure.

Mine was at the hospital: /www.uclahealth.org/santa-monica/ It was a big facility, it was an outpatient procedure, but it wasn't necessarily a outpatient facility. It was many floors and really old, actually a very interesting/pretty building.

I had to drink barium, then they wanted to give me an injection halfway through. They said it would make me need to eat something on the way home, i think to avoid being faint, but I said no to the injection because I didn't want to eat. I knew if I ate, it would lead to problems getting home. I already had D from the barium. That in itself yielded about 6 urgent trips to the bathroom immediately before the procedure. I didn't know if I would be able to lay there, but i ended up getting a break in toilet trips for that brief time. I got lucky. tongue
Posted 9/15/2016 3:33 PM (GMT 0)
Can she do a CTE instead?
It involves x radiation

Head does not go into the "donut"

Basically need to drink 3bottles of volumen over about 1 hour
They will insert an IV and give a contrast that makes you feel like you peed your pants

It isn't very loud and it is short (unlike MRE)
Posted 9/18/2016 9:00 PM (GMT 0)
Dx4Tx,

Thanks for the information - it is very helpful.

Debbie
Posted 9/18/2016 9:03 PM (GMT 0)
Notsosicklygirl,

Thanks for the link and the rest of your informative post. Glad you got lucky.

Debbie
Posted 9/18/2016 9:12 PM (GMT 0)
Dikid,

Thanks for your post. I am hoping my daughter does not get the CT because she has had so much radiation already since she was diagnosed with Crohn's, I don't want her to have any more unless there is absolutely no choice.

Debbie
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