A word of advice for everyone, mainly the younger generation

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Take care of yourself. Try not to get to a point where you would need an MRI. Because those things are NOT fun. I am talking from experience. I had one the other day and it was the most nerve-wracking experience of my life. I threw up stomach bile on the way home. Worst morning/early afternoon ever, period.


That is all.

When you don't know what's going on, think before you act. When you know the routine, do what you need to do rather than chat with coworkers (if you talk too much, they will find something to get rid of you for.) Beware of overly friendly coworkers, they are looking for gossip to spread about you. Never work for Wal-Mart, even if it's your only option where you live. If an employer says that they are "always hiring", beware, because that also means that they are always firing too, and you don't want that on your record as it will minimize if not kill your chance of future employment.

Last edited by iamnotaparakeet on 30 May 2010, 1:05 am, edited 1 time in total.

A bit late there. I'm almost at 4 years with Wal-Mart. But I'm watching my back. Trying to find something to fall back on.

Congrats on four years with Hellmart. Hope you do find something else. It is easier to find another job while you are still employed, since employers see that as speaking in your favor. Also, the 4 years at a high stress job where upper management and coworkers are constantly looking for people to snipe off is also impressive. You're doing good, but getting out of there, before they find some random flaw or contort some random phrases you said into something you didn't mean, would be a good idea still. They care about there employees about as much as miners care about prospect sites - valuable until consumed.

Good bits of advice - I'll try to follow them as best I can.

I'll follow that advice, now where is my Slim-Fast?

care to go into details? i have no idea what an mri does.

An MRI, which stands for Magnetic Resonance Imagiary (I think...) is a scan that you might have. It is often used to diagnose or rule out epilepsy, MS (and other similar diseases) brain damage or brain tumours. I personally have had three of these and didn't mind them that much, although I can't say I enjoyed it. It is a large cylindrical chamber with a board on the bottom. You lie on the board and it takes you in to the tube. If it is only your brain which is being scanned you don't go in too far. Full body scans require the whole length of your body to go in. I haven't had that at all. It is very noisy, the board is uncomfortable and it is claustraphobic in there so some people don't cope with it at all and might even need sedation to get through it as you have to lie incredibally still.

Ive also had several MRI's and if I close my eyes it doesnt bother me. What does bother me is all the noises it makes....after awhile it starts to mess with your head and you start to hear weird voices...Ok, maybe thats just me, but it is not a pleasant experience. They will sedate you if you tell them it freaks you out.

I had an MRI done recently (just the brain, not full-body) and I didn't think it was all that bad at all.

They gave me some headphones to listen to any music I wanted, but the noise wasn't that bad...was kind of soothing to me, reminded me of an old 80s printer.

The only hard part was sitting still for so long, I had a lot of itches that kept popping up, begging to be scratched. But they let me get out halfway through to do some stretching and what not.

Uh...so exactly how did you get to a point where you need an MRI? Its only helpful if you tell me what you did so I can consider to AVOID doing whatever you were doing that led you to an MRI scan.

I had an MRI scan at... 17, I think, for a shoulder problem. My advice is that if you do take it, don't agree to listening to the radio at the same time with headphones (they offered me that option, and I took it); it does not drown out the sounds of the machine at all. If anything, it just makes it worse, because now you've got the machine thumping and the radio voices.

It's not always something you can avoid.

Ugh Slimfast is not good for you! My advice is 5-6 very small meals instead of 3 large ones. You don't stay hungry all the time and you get real nutrition. The meals should be healthy, of course. Veggies, lean meats, whole wheat for the carbs.

How long does an MRI usually take?

I had an MRI once to scan my neck. It was hellish. Like being buried alive. I lay on a board and they slid my whole body into a narrow tube inside the machine, there was no room to move. You are totally helpless to move until they pull you out again. I was in a lot a pain with my neck and this made the whole experience horrible. I just lay there and gritted my teeth because the scan needed to be done. They told me afterwards they could tell I was having a hard time in there - and I'm not really one suffers from claustrophobia! Apparently some people freak out and they have to let them out. It was also very very noisy.

It depends on what you're getting it done for. I've had four (I think), and I'll probably continue to get them annually. Mine usually are an hour or so. They have been done to look at brain stuff and my pituitary. Sometimes they can do a CT scan instead which only lasts a few minutes. They now have 'open' MRIs, which I haven't done. My mom (not an aspie) is claustrophobic and will only do an open MRI. My first one I was given some kind of meds to relax me (too young to know what they were) but I haven't the other times...I'm fine with MRIs. I prefer that they don't give me contrast, though. Don't worry about the vomiting bit...there's no reason an MRI in itself would make you vomit.

I usually keep my eyes closed in there because in the 'closed' mris the top is very close to your face. They make lots of noise, but you get earplugs and padding and stuff around your head so the noise is muffled. I've pretty much gotten to where I almost enjoy them, which is good since I'll have to continue to get them. The worst part to me is when they say something over their little microphone thing. I have to get them because I have a condition called a chiari malformation, it's a brain thing.