December Clinicals

I had an opportunity to scan a brain on monday. It was of a woman under the age of 40 so we used the "Under 40" brain without contrast protocol used at this (CDI in Indianapolis Indiana) facility. Before we scanned the patient she informed us that there is a history of Cavernous Angioma. Her symptoms were dizziness and headaches. As we were scanning the patient, we noticed a spot highlighting in the area anterior to the cerebellum on the left side. A previous brain scan was done a year and a half ago. After the patient left we pulled up the prior brain scan and noticed that the spot had grown.

Later on in the week, we checked to see the diagnosis of the scan. With where the spot was located in the prior brain scan and its small size the radiologist thought it to be flow, now comparing it to the most recent scan, the spot has grown from 2-3mm to 9 mm. It was undetermined as to what it was so the radiologist wants to bring the patient back in for contrast. They are wanting to differentiate whether it is a dermoid cyst, arachnoid cyst or even a hemorrhagic acoustic neuroma. He is also asking other CDI radiologist nation-wide for their option.

I want to continue to follow the progress of this patient to find out what the outcome is for this patient.

October MRI Clinicals

Sorry that it has been a while since my last blog, balancing everything has literally been a juggling act this month. All in all, October was a very productive month in clinicals. It is still a struggle to see a variation of anatomy since most of my clinical hours are in the evening where you tend to see an abundance of lumbar, cervical and knee scans. My goal this month is to focus on shoulders, ankles, wrist and the brain.

On the 3oth of this month, a MR tech and I scanned a patients pelvis and lumbar. The patient was complaining of lower abdominal and lower back pain since he fell down the stairs about a month ago. We scanned the pelvis first and on the coronal view I noticed something highlighting superior to the pelvic region on the patients right side. We did a few more different scans to see if what we were actually seeing was a mass form that was fluid filled. The MR tech call the Radiologist to see if they wanted extra scans done or if they want us to scan higher up on the patient. The Radiologist said to scan higher so I repositioned the coil about 8 inches higher on the patient. We did a few more scans and then pulled the patient back out to finish with the lumbar scan. Before I placed the patient back in for the lumbar, he asked if it was normal to feel flushed and nauseated with pelvis and lumbar pain. I told him that we would definitely document how he was feeling in our notes for the radiologist. We finished with his lumbar scan and informed him that the radiologist will call his doctor and that the patients doctor will contact him as soon as he knows the results.

We got a call back shortly from the radiologist informing us that indeed the patient had a huge fluid filled cyst hanging off his right kidney. She basically said good job because we kept the patient from having to go back in another day for another scan. I hope the best for this patient and that he is taken care of soon and has a full recovery.

A while back, another tech let me know that a radiologist at CDI explained that it is important to look at the whole picture because what really could be causing the patients pain, numbness, tingling or swelling may not be as obvious as you would think.

I'll try not to go so long before my next blog. I hope everyone is doing well this semester - hang in there.

Wrapping up September MRI Clinicals

September 22nd was a unique day for me in MRI. I had the rare opportunity to do a scoliosis examination which isn't done often at that office. CDI's protocol for Scoliosis is:
Cervical Spine - T2 Sagittal and T1 Sagittal Flair
Thoracic Spine - T2 Sagittal, T1 Sagittal Flair and T2 Coronal
Lumbar Spine - T2 Sagittal, T1 Sagittal Flair and T2 Axial Gradient

The patient was a young 15 year old female who was in a great deal of pain and having difficult time with her breathing so we had to do quite a few repeats. One of the reasons why the doctor wanted to do a scan of the entire spine was to see why the patient was having so much trouble with her breathing.
We would check with her after each scan so that she would be able to cough, clear her throat or take in a deep breathe, and in between the different spinal scans, we would have to pull the patient out of the MRI so that she could sit up for a moment to relieve some of her pain.

The severity of the patients scoliosis was pretty substantial in the thoracic region so trying to count each vertebra to make sure that we had everything scanned in that area was challenging. On the Thoracic scans, you almost had to run through all of the slices in the sagittal view to count through T1 to T12. The entire exam was pretty rough on the patient but she got through the whole procedure. Overall, it was a great experience to see not just one spinal exam but to see all of the spine done in one procedure.

September MRI Clinicals

Today at CDI, we had a college student who is a Cross Country runner and has been experiencing lower back, left hip and left buttock pain for the past 8 days. His doctor sent him in for an MRI of the lumbar spine to see if he may have a possible disc, pars or facet injury.
We ran a routine lumbar spine and in looking for a pars fracture the technologist noticed in the Sagittal Stir that the left side of the sacrum was bright. So we re-centered to the sacrum and ran a Coronal view with the angle of the sacrum which really displayed a fracture of the left sacrum. The technologist then called the Radiologist to review the routine Lumbar Spine along with the extra Coronal view to see if he needed any additional views in which he asked her to run a T1 Axial through the sacrum.
It was amazing to see a sacrum fracture. The fact that we were scanning for a possible fracture in the lumbar spine and ended up finding one in the sacrum instead just shows how observant the technologist was. I have so much to learn but I am thankful that I am able to observe and expand my knowledge at CDI here in Indianapolis. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Getting scan time!

I had a great night tonight and I was able to scan all night long! Woohoo! There are some nights when that just isn't possible because they may get behind schedule due to patients with sedations, contrast, claustrophobia etc. The schedule at CDI's south side office in Indianapolis tends to get pretty busy. I was able to scan a few knees, a cervical and a lumbar which were all my competencies for last semester and a wrist. I am hoping to gain more experience in scanning wrists, ankles, feet and shoulders and hopefully be able to test out on at least three of the four body parts.

It is going to be a juggling act again to get my observation hours in with work and school but I will manage. I know everyone else in this program is probably in the same boat as me with busy lives.

I hope that I have some good stories to tell you later but for now it is still pretty early in the game. I hope everyone is doing well.

Introducing myself - RADT 414 Clinicals

Hello all,
My name is Rhoda Stanton and I am on my second semester of clinicals for my MRI certification. I am still working at Methodist Sports Medicine/The Orthopedic Specialist in Indianapolis Indiana and have been for the past 9 years. I am planning on doing my clinicals again at CDI at the south office in Greenwood Indiana.
I am looking forward to spending more quality time at CDI and I hope to keep absorbing as much information as possible from the great technologist there. I hope everyone has a great semester and I am looking forward to reading your blogs!
Good Luck to all of you!

August Experience and Winding Down

I can't believe that it is August already!
I'm starting to feel really comfortable doing some scans but others tend to get me. I just keep plugging away hoping that I break down those barriers that stop me. MRI's of the knee, lumbar spine and cervical spine are falling into place for me and now I'm starting to feel comfortable with MRI's of the ankle and wrist. With other scans, I think it is all the variables that trip me up for example, the foot, but with time I know everything will fall into place.
I did see an interesting case recently. A patient came in with a tibial plateau fracture and the doctor wanted to make sure that there were no meniscus or ACL tears. I could see the fracture through the localizer and I was amazed at how deep it went through the tibia. As we scanned the knee to look for the possible tears, we could see the different levels of fluid that were stacked on top each other. That was the first time that I could really see blood pooling around the knee. In the end, the radiologist determined that there were no tears.
This has been an awesome experience this semester and I can't wait to continue on with my journey next semester.

July Experience - Expect the unexpected

Hello again!
Well this past Wednesday was a day that will stay in my mind for quite some time. You could say that it definitely was not a typical day at the facility that I have been observing at.
The second patient that I helped scan was a lady in her mid sixties that came in for an MRI of the foot to see if she had an infection. We do a series of scans without contrast first and then set her up for her next series of scans with contrast. Not more than 4 minutes into the contrast scans the patient presses the emergency contact ball and is coughing like crazy. We pull her out of the machine and the MRI tech tells me to inform the supervisor of the situation, wherein the supervisor tells me to get the Radiologist. I was extremely impressed with the efficiency of the entire staff. Everyone from all the modalities immediately dropped what they were doing to help out. The Radiologist gave the patient Benadryl and continued to observe the patient. Meanwhile, the technologists checked the patients O2 sat, blood pressure and pulse. Once the patient was deemed stable, she was able to leave provided that she have someone drive her home. The Radiologist concluded that the patient was having a panic attack. Again, I was really impressed by how everyone worked together so smoothly.

The rest of the evening was somewhat calmer but we still had a few patients that were unable to complete their scans whether it was due to claustrophobia or they were in to much pain. I hate to say it this way but I am glad these events happened while I was there, not for the patients sake but because it allowed me to see how things are accomplished during a stressful situation. It was a real eye opener and I hope to be as prepared as these great technologist were once I become a certified/registered MRI technologist.
That is my excitement for the week. I hope everyone else is doing great!

July Experience - Accumulating Needed Hours

Hello All,
These past couple of weeks have been a struggle for me. I am slowing getting bits and pieces of the information that I need to MRI a patient but my brain tends to wind down after working at my regular job and then try to absorb more information at the clinic. I commend all the people out there that have families, a full time job and are going to school at the same time - I really don't know how you do it.
I think that I am on schedule with learning everything yet I have this nagging feeling that I am lagging behind. The MRI techs have been wonderful and very encouraging in saying that they all have been there and that it is hard at the beginning to learning everything but to hang in there. I really appreciate the MRI techs that are teaching me because they try to show me as much as humanly possible without trying to overwhelm me.
I seen any interesting scan but at times when I get to the clinic the MRI techs will pull up some unique cases of scans that they do not normally see so that I can be aware to checking for things that aren't so obvious. I tend to look at the smaller picture and have been made to realize that you have to open your eyes to the bigger picture.
I wish I had some exciting stories to tell but maybe with my next blog I will have something more interesting to tell you. I hope that everyone is doing great. Until next time - Have a great weekend.

June/July Experience

Well, it has been awhile since my last blog and I apologize. Time has not been my friend as of late. I have had a tough time getting my observation hours in. I work during the day and I hope that the facility that I go to for clinicals has a full schedule. Obviously, the facility is not always going to have a full load at no fault of their own that is just how it goes but I have been somewhat stressed out.

I am enjoying my time at CDI in Greenwood, Indiana. The MRI techs have been wonderful and very patient. I am starting to get more comfortable with the computer and manipulating the different slices and hope to try my hand at testing out on a knee soon. I tend to set back sometimes and not get in there when I should but I am slowly coming out of my shell.

It is funny how you tend to notice more and more as you go, seeing a possible tear here a cyst there where as before you would not have known one thing from another. I hope that on my next post that I can give you more interesting cases that I have seen along the way.

I hope that everyone is having a great clinical experience!? Have a fantastic Summer!

May/June MRI Experience

Well, I have completed almost 60 hours of MRI time in the past four weeks. It has been quite an experience. All the MRI technologists teaching me are very supportive and extremely helpful. There is so much to absorb and at time it can be overwhelming and I feel so inept but the techs have assured me that with time I will start to get the hang of it.

In my hours spent, I have only done a bit of scanning. I've been a little timid about being in the drivers seat but with the help of the techs hopefully this weekend I can take a spin at the wheel. The three body parts I hope to start scanning on my own soon are shoulders, knees, and lumbar spines. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I will actually start to become comfortable scanning these areas without being given instructions. I have seen scans of ankles, feet, tib/fib, thumbs, wrists, elbows, brains, TMJ, thoracic spines, cervical spines, and hips. I'm starting to grasp the difference between a clean scan and one that has subtle motion. There is so much to learn but I'm up to the challenge.

So far it has been exciting to learn MRI. With each day, I hope to feel more comfortable in my abilities and that I won't feel quite so inadequate and be more confident with what I am learning.

Getting started in MRI

Hi, my name is Rhoda Stanton. I have been a Radiologic Technologist for 11 years. My first x-ray job out of Radiology School was at Riverview Hospital which involved working in both general x-ray and CT which I really enjoyed. Now I work at Methodist Sports Medicine/The Orthopedic Specialist for Surgeons doing general x-ray. We are constantly growing at our north-side facility and have expanded our office to include MRI working together with CDI.

I have always had an interest in MRI and decided that it was time to try my hand at it. CDI has given me an opportunity to be a student at their Greenwood facility and I am looking forward to learning as much as I can there.