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    Peeing in a cup - other options?

    At my MRI today, I was told that I would need contrast, but before that I would have to take a pregnancy test (I told the tech that there was no way, but they dont take people's word for it - no problem - I get it) The thing is, I used the toilet before I left the house, so being able to fill the little cup was not happening.
    No one offered me any other options whatsoever. Actually they behaved more like I was just being difficult, and didnt want to cooperate with them rather than having an illness that would cause difficulty with urination.
    After the third hour and trying several times (futile), I finally said - cant you give me a blood test? They told me it would be another 2 hours if they got in contact with my dr who would need to order it.
    Is this how it is everywhere or is this hospital just a special case? Are there just no options for you if you are physically unable to do a test? Any suggestions on what I could do if this happens again or is it just a hazard of being a young female with MS?

    #2
    Originally posted by lilly.hewlett View Post
    At my MRI today, I was told that I would need contrast, but before that I would have to take a pregnancy test
    Hi Lilly:

    I certainly do not know why they made you take a pregnancy test because it is well known that the compound used for contrast during the MRI does not affect an unborn child. I looked into this last year before a MRI (I was breastfeeding at the time) and it is not necessary to pump and dump for a couple of days to get rid of the compound. It does not affect breastfeeding babies or babies in the womb.

    MRI technicians gave me the same grieve when they did my first MRI while I was pregnant. They did it, but without contrast, even after my OB-GYN called and gave them the green light

    Anyhow, I would probably call some place else and ask about their policy with female patients.

    Be well.
    First episode with third pregnancy
    On my fourth med: Tysabri since Jan 2013
    Proud mommy of three children

    Comment


      #3
      I've had 4 series of MRI's now with contrast and I've never been given a pregnancy test! I'm 29 so I'm prime age to be given a pregnancy test too I'd assume.

      How frustrating! I know when I have an MRI they call me before and remind me not to wear metal and other things. I would hope if they require a pregnancy test they'd let you know ahead of time so you can make sure you need to pee
      Symptoms Oct 2009, Dx Feb 2010. betaseron 2/10-2/12. Copaxone 3/12- present.

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by sexygatubela View Post
        Hi Lilly:

        I certainly do not know why they made you take a pregnancy test because it is well known that the compound used for contrast during the MRI does not affect an unborn child. I looked into this last year before a MRI (I was breastfeeding at the time) and it is not necessary to pump and dump for a couple of days to get rid of the compound. It does not affect breastfeeding babies or babies in the womb.
        This is absolutely incorrect.

        Gadolinium most definitely crosses the placenta and enters the body of the fetus, and studies of its effect upon the unborn fetus have been extremely limited. Therefore, no determination of the effects of gadolinium on the fetus has been made. If you doubt what I'm saying, Google this topic and you will see that medical centers in general do not inject pregnant women unless it is felt that the benefit outweighs the risk. My guess is that nobody regards the hunt for an active MS plaque as more important than the life of an unborn child. A brain tumor, OTOH, might be different.

        That said, I've never known anyone to require a pregnancy test before injecting. If a woman says she's not pregnant and signs the consent, that's always been sufficient. In 27 years of imaging I've never known of anyone requiring a woman to pee in a cup. OMG.


        rex

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          #5
          Originally posted by lilly.hewlett View Post
          Actually they behaved more like I was just being difficult, and didnt want to cooperate with them rather than having an illness that would cause difficulty with urination.
          Nah...if anything, they're just unhappy about the schedule getting backed up. That pee-policy is weird and wrong-headed, but it's not their policy, and I'm sure it's as frustrating for them as it is for their patients.

          FWIW, everyone (including MRI techs) knows that peeing isn't something we can turn on or off.


          rex

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            #6
            Originally posted by kingrex;1350695That said, I've never known anyone to require a pregnancy test before injecting. [B
            If a woman says she's not pregnant and signs the consent,[/B] that's always been sufficient. In 27 years of imaging I've never known of anyone requiring a woman to pee in a cup. OMG.

            rex
            I asked to sign the consent - more than once. The person who would give the contrast got frustrated and said I would have to wait 2 hours for the doctor to come down and give me the consent form (seeing as what happened with the dr, I understand that frustration now). I said ok, and waited because I'd hoped to be able to coax my bladder into working with me within that two hours. When they did finally call the dr - he did not come down, he told the tech to tell me to drink lots of water. Im still not sure what made him think that among all of the people present - we couldnt think of that on our own in 2 hours. That's when I just finally asked for the blood test and that dr said that my neurologist would have to be the one to order it...

            I couldnt understand that whole exchange. If I said that I was willing to sign the consent, why wasnt anyone willing to let me sign it? No one was offering me any other options, and the doctor couldnt seem to be bothered at all. Im still unsure of what they do for a completely disabled young woman who comes in.

            I guess I came to understand yesterday that everyone just wants to get the job done. It's your misfortune if you cant keep up.

            Thanks to everyone who answered. I appreciate your thoughts.

            Comment


              #7
              If you had known ahead of time you could have brought in a urine sample.
              A blood test determines pregnancy earlier than a urine test does.
              So someone with a negative urine test could still be pregnant.
              techie
              Another pirated saying:
              Half of life is if.
              When today is bad, tomorrow is generally a better day.
              Dogs Rule!

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by lilly.hewlett View Post
                Thanks to everyone who answered. I appreciate your thoughts.
                Just a thought - did you at any point (prior to them asking for a pregnancy test) write or tell anyone that you could be pregnant, or that you didn't know if you were pregnant or not?


                rex

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                  #9
                  Here are two thoughts: drink a beer (not really acceptable if you ARE pregnant, which you've already said you are NOT), or something way less desirable, cath the urine out. I'm sure that option wouldn't go over big with any of the parties involved (I know it wouldn't with me!)

                  Sounds like they're definitely making this harder than it has to be! Totally sounds like medicine in the USA!! Guess that's what we get for being so litigious....

                  I hope you get this worked out!
                  “The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.” Ernest Hemingway
                  Diagnosed 1979

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by kingrex View Post
                    Just a thought - did you at any point (prior to them asking for a pregnancy test) write or tell anyone that you could be pregnant, or that you didn't know if you were pregnant or not?


                    rex
                    I re-read your original post, and you say you told them there was no way you could be pregnant? If that's so, I would find another facility. I cannot conceive (no pun intended) of a facility refusing to believe a woman who says there is no way she could be pregnant - that's not their business.

                    When you go for surgery, you're supposed to eat nothing after midnight. The morning of the surgery, they ask if you ate, and if you say no they simply believe you and proceed.

                    There is no reason to refuse a woman's MRI scan, with or without contrast, if she states that she is not pregnant. As long as it's in writing (we ask the question on the patient information sheet, which is signed by the patient) there is no legal liability if she turns out later to have been pregnant at the time of the exam. Your facility must have some over-zealous attorneys!

                    Anyway, I'd avoid that place if there are other options where you live.


                    rex

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Techie - that idea is definitely on my radar as my dr called me and told me this morning that I'd have to have another MRI soon.

                      Jazzgirl - hehe, I would've never thought of beer - I don't drink! But that's very clever!

                      Kingrex - I signed that paper you speak of, checked off the not pregnant part. 'Not pregnant' was also on the MRI order. The man who told me I had to take a pregnancy test told me in his 35 years doing what he did 4 people told him they werent pregnant, and turned out to be, and that his job told him he had to have documentation, so I had to take a pregnancy test or sign the paper - neither of which I could do at that moment due to no fault of my own though. So either way it works out for him, but not so much for me.
                      Interesting story, my dr called me this morning and said she personally spoke to the radiologist and said - I can vouch for her - she's not pregnant. He too told her that they needed documentation. (Yet he wouldnt come downstairs and give me the paper to sign!)
                      She also said I'd have to have another MRI as they saw a lesion on my cervical spine - but this time if any contrast is involved, Im taking my urine with me.
                      I have recently started to wonder if my illness has...outgrown my hospital, but it's the only place I can see my Neurologist, so I guess it's sentimentality that keeps me there, but I just wasnt sure that what happened yesterday was right/legal at all. I wondered if that's the way they did things elsewhere.

                      Thanks again everyone.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by lilly.hewlett View Post

                        Jazzgirl - hehe, I would've never thought of beer - I don't drink! But that's very clever!

                        I don't drink (anymore), and I NEVER drank beer (except for Guinness ale), but when I needed to pee, that would always do it.

                        I do hope everyone can get their acts together so the MRI can move forward!
                        “The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.” Ernest Hemingway
                        Diagnosed 1979

                        Comment


                          #13
                          I sort of ignored this post this morning, but they always asked if I was pregnant...still do and I am 48......horrors...could you imagine. Oh...horrors...

                          I would say no, sign a form and off we go. But once, I was not so sure in my late 30s. And I said, "I don't think so." DING, DING, DING. Two minutes later I was sitting in the waiting room drinking diet coke (which goes right through me) so I could do a pregnancy test.

                          Now, that was my fault. But normally, I just sign a waiver and go into the procedure.

                          Hopefully there are other facilities you can use. I would say something happened there previously and they don't want to take any chances. You know malpractice suits are rampant!

                          Katie

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                            #14
                            Originally posted by lilly.hewlett View Post
                            I have recently started to wonder if my illness has...outgrown my hospital, but it's the only place I can see my Neurologist, so I guess it's sentimentality that keeps me there, but I just wasnt sure that what happened yesterday was right/legal at all. I wondered if that's the way they did things elsewhere.
                            You can still see your neurologist there and have your MRI wherever you want. That place sounds weird. Forcing women to prove they're not pregnant is intrusive and an indignity.


                            rex

                            Comment


                              #15
                              I've had MRIs in two different facilities and all I had to do was sign the form that said I had no metal in me, no pregnancy, etc. and it's like a waiver for the hospitals. (The only exception was when I participated in a research study and I knew I was going to have to do the pregnancy test.)

                              I would be IRATE if they tried to make me pee in a cup for this. There is no way for me to be pregnant, and I can't pee on command either. I would have marched right up to the doctor's office to GET the darn paper - there is NO excuse AT ALL for you not being able to sign the form. How ridiculous !

                              I understand that it is all about CYA for the tech, but the tech should have the form for people to sign -- not the doctor.

                              I hope you can find someplace else to have your MRIs done. Good luck !!!

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