If you keep your eyes closed, it isn't so bad. And I think your shoulders are narrower than mine, which tends to be where I bump the machine. DON'T LET THEM PUT THE CHEST PLATE ON YOU. ahem. They will put your head in a cage thingie (thus, close your eyes and you won't see it). Some male genius dreamed up this chest plate that holds your chin steady. 1) You don't need it and 2) if you have any boobs at all, it makes the plate push your chin up and back, making it difficult to breathe.

Don't have a lot of caffeine before you go, because the contrast they inject you with makes all your mucus membranes feel warm and wet and thus worrisome. Also also, demand a copy of the CD for your personal records because seeing your brain is cool and I've had problems getting records transferred in the past.

I am glad you are getting this checked out. Hopefully it will be nothing. Keep us posted!

If you're having it done at HUP, then request they put a sheet over you and maybe tuck it up around your shoulders. The MRI at the Perelman pavilion is like a wind tunnel. You don't notice it until you're in the machine, and then it's too late and you're freezing to death.

You're getting your head scanned, so I don't know if they'll give you the headphones and pipe music to you (you can pick your format--I always go for classical). If not, then be prepared with a knotty plotting problem or something to think about, because sleep is impossible with the MASSIVE NOISE going on all around you.

I'm not claustrophobic at all. Also, I am significantly larger than you. I found it rather cozy and pleasant. (Yes, even with the noise.)

Gosh. I can't imagine someone NOT giving a blanket. Tsk tsk! So, yeah, make sure you get one. If you get an MRI at the private MRI place across the way from Pennsylvania Hospital, they'll have earphones. I chose classical music, and it ended up feeling like a very weird movie soundtrack, since it didn't block out all the whirring and grinding and thuds.

I think HUP offers music piped into the room, but the one time I did that, I couldn't hear the music.

They keep the room cold because the machine can get pretty warm.

I don't know if my ability to doze through those is a side bonus of having had so many, or testament to how sleep deprived I tend to be.