FAQ: Should I Get A Scan?
Should I Get A Scan?
This was an email trail from a month ago with a lady suffering from back pain. It has more or less disappeared now, but this question below highlights the uncertainty we all feel when we've sat alone with our pain. It gets easier if you can find commitment and consistency, and she is doing that now.
Below is a snapshot of her thoughts at the time and my response.
Hi Drew. Thank you. My pain reduced immediately after the session. It’s back in full force now, but it was so positive. I appreciate your help.
I’ve weighed up whether to have another scan, just for peace of mind. Do you think I should pull off the plaster and do it? Then I can rest easy. I’m thinking hold off & practice the methods you gave me today & see how I get on. The risk is that they identify something on the scan that isn’t causing pain.
I’ve got myself in a right old state this week, but today was the start of me coming through it. I’ve been trying to observe the symptoms & thoughts - sometimes successfully. And I have stayed off Google!
Thanks again.
My Reply
Hi,
Should I watch a scary movie if I’m already feeling scared? Or should I have another can of coke when I’m already on a sugar high?
If you can guarantee me that you commit to remaining calm no matter what the results, then get whatever test you want. The behaviour you demonstrate to yourself before the scan, whilst having it, and when getting the results determines the outcome, not the moment you get the results.
Your MRI scan will show a great mam, a lovely wife, a loyal daughter, a conscientious work colleague and a great friend.
One that, for a long time, has sacrificed her sense of happiness to make all these other people happy. And at times to the point of feeling unwell through it.
It will show that you are not broken. Yes, there may be the odd bit of life in there, which is a reminder of falling out of a tree or doing the gardening, but nothing more than would be found in any one of the same age, height and sex—everyday life.
If you look closely at the scan, you’ll also see all that I can see, but perhaps you’ll start to see it without the scan.
Just like I can.
That flicker of insight into how you are perfect already, without needing it to prove it to anyone else, may allow you some moments of calmness and the space to allow yourself to recover.
Sit in the gap and notice the thoughts and feelings on all the days you can—the peaks and troughs without reacting to the excitement or fears popping up.
Stay consistent, and the gap is where pain-free appears. Yes, you can broaden it by inserting the good stuff we’ve discussed but get comfortable in the uncomfortable gap for 30-60 seconds,
Practice that first and then decide whether that helps in choosing to have a scan.
Either way, the results show what they show. It’s your perspective that determines how you feel about it.
Practice a calmer perspective; eventually, that’s all you’ll see in your eye-line and all you’ll feel in your body.
Cheers Drew
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