[Tsuki632]

I have anxiety issues, but not claustrophobia. I'm hoping someone can help me understand so I can help one of my patients.

I'm a CT tech (cat scan). A patient is coming back in a few days because she couldn't go through with the test.

The test involves lying on a narrow table that moves through a big donut with her arms over her head. The machine is about 2 feet deep, so it's not like a big tunnel. The whole test takes about 4 minutes. Her head will never go into the donut. We start around the armpit. There are no straps or anything holding her down. There are no really loud noises other than the big fan sound from the scanner.

She wants her husband in the scan room which I can't allow because of the radiation. She is supposed to be getting a sedative which is usually 1mg Ativan before the test, but she's unlikely to follow through.

Does anyone have any suggestions how I can help this lady?

[Tsuki632]

p.s. the hole she will pass through is about 2.5 feet in diameter. We can easily get 350lb patients through it.

Hi, sorry I don't have any useful ideas but I wonder whether she is really afraid of the CT Scan itself or perhaps she is dreading the whole procedure..eg. getting ready for the test, the contrast IV etc. Or maybe she is scared of the outcome of the test. The only thing I can think of is to take some pressure off of her by telling her its ok if she cant go through with it and that if she needs to get out at any point she can press the button and someone will immediately stop the procedure. In any case Im sure she is grateful to have someone so thoughtful as her CT tech. Hope it goes well

[Tsuki632]

Thanks for your reply. We'll see how it goes.

hope it works out this time!

[Tsuki632]

We got the test done. I had to let the husband in the room. I wasn't happy about it, but it's not like it's never been done before. I had them talk about their schedule for the next day. I dropped the table as low as I could so she'd have more space then inched her in. At one point I just left and ran the scan then went to check on her. Did that three times and done!!

glad it went better this time. I'm sure she was grateful that you were so considerate. It would have been better for the husband to stay outside bc of radiation exposure but..it was just once and it worked out in the end.