Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Good day everyone, and thank you so much for
joining again in another episodeof Speaking with Sandra L,
where it's all about the patientexperience.
Why is the patient experienceimportant?
Well, it's important because weare the key factors in the
healthcare system, are the keyfactors in the healthcare system
(00:29):
and many times we, as patients,we don't see ourselves as
having the power.
We don't see ourselves as doingthat, but we are in fact.
We do in fact hold that power.
We do in fact hold that power,and so it's important for us to
know that and it's important forus to recognize that.
What I am going to do today isI'm going to start in a moment.
(00:52):
I was trying to wait to seewhat was going on with LinkedIn.
For some reason, it's showingme LinkedIn is having an issue.
So we're going to proceed aheadbecause I'm not going to hold
this up and, since this is apodcast, my lovely people on
LinkedIn will see this.
If they're not seeing it livenow, they will, in fact, see
this at a later date, but itwill come up.
(01:16):
So today's episode, we havespeaking with us Sharae Reid.
Sharae Reid and I'm so gratefulto her because every time,
choms has reached out from thebeginning and said we're doing
this or we're doing that.
She's like count me in, I wantto be counted in, and so I count
her in, and she always comesthrough for us, and we need her
(01:40):
to come through for us becauseshe has some information that we
all need to hear.
Now I happen to be looking,scrolling one day through my
emails, and I saw where therewas an incident that happened
with the MRI that she's going toget into in a little while that
we all need, and this will notbe her first time telling us
(02:03):
this as patients, because she'scome on our shows and she's said
this plenty of times before.
However, some people get it andsome people don't get it, and
when they don't get it, it hurtsus as patients, because then
our patient experience ishorrible.
Oh, I'm not doing an MRI, Ihate that MRI, I'm this, that
(02:24):
and the other.
It's horrible.
Oh, I'm not doing an MRI, Ihate that MRI, I'm this, that
and the other.
And that's because you're notreally preparing yourselves for
the MRI experience before ithappens.
So when things happen asshappened in the story that we're
going to go over in a minute ortwo to this young man that
didn't listen.
Well, he didn't have Sandra Land he didn't have a patient
(02:45):
experience podcast to forewarnhim, but those of you who are
listening, you now have theinformation.
You will be having theinformation that you need to
have when it comes down to whatyou can do taking the MRI to
actually have the most optimal,best healthcare experience ever
with an MRI, and no longer willyou have anxiety or freeze up,
(03:08):
but you'll be able to know.
In addition to those things thatwe'll be talking, those stories
that we'll be talking about,we're also going to share some
what's going on now.
And there's something else thatI've read about recently and I
keep seeing it in the news andI'm like, okay, well, I have a
perfect expert coming on my show, so we're going to discuss that
.
So I'm not even going to lookat this, but I am going to ask
(03:31):
her about it Without further ado.
I'm going to go ahead andintroduce Sharae Reid, I'm going
to let her introduce herselfand then we'll get into the
question and answer section.
Sharae, tell us all about you.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Thank you so much, sandra.
I'm always grateful to be apart of your patient demographic
that come on and join your show, and to you and your
organization, thank you.
I appreciate you.
As Sandra said, my name isSheree Reed.
(04:06):
I am the patient carestrategist.
I have been in the healthcarefield close to 25 years now, and
specifically in the radiologyfield close to 20 years, and
I've been an MRI technologistfor over 15 years and, seeing it
(04:26):
all from the extremely happylet's get this done.
I'm not going to be phased byan MRI machine or exam to the
extremely frightful crying.
There's no way I'm getting inthere patient.
(04:49):
So the demographic is vast.
So you have to be able to speakto each of those patients where
they are, speak to each ofthose patients where they are,
(05:10):
and you have to be able to calmthem down enough to get through
the exam successfully and getthe doctors what they need in
order to diagnose them properly.
So, yeah, it's been a journeyand I continue on it and the joy
I get from patient experienceand what I do to provide great
quality patient care for mypatients I've done for many,
(05:32):
many years and it's an absolutejoy of mine.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Thank you so much, and so my next question to you
is this and you just gave us alittle bit about it what
initially drew you to the fieldof MRI technology?
I mean, you could have been anx-ray tech, you could have been
a CT scan.
You're just like no, no, no, Idon't want none of that.
I want to concentrate on MRIs.
So what made you concentrate onMRIs?
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Well, to be honest, I actually started as an x-ray
tech.
I went to school and got myassociates in radiology as an
x-ray tech and I did that for, Iwant to say, about 10, 12 years
and then I decided I wanted togo back to school and get my MRI
(06:25):
certification.
And I chose MRI because, out ofall the other modalities
whether it be CAT scan,ultrasonography, nuclear
medicine, radiation therapy,memo, mammography, memo
(06:53):
mammography MRI was the onlymodality that you can look at an
image and know exactly whatyou're looking at.
And for me, going intosomething new, I that was
important to me because, youknow, I checked that ultrasound
and I'm like I don't know whatI'm looking at.
I have no idea what this blackand white image is and unless
it's a baby, I am lost inultrasound.
(07:16):
So I chose MRI specificallyjust because everything shows up
so well.
You can see hair follicles,hair follicles on your skin in
MRI.
That's how great MRI is and Iwas excited about that.
(07:39):
And the time that you can takewith each patient.
See, with CT it's very quick.
The x-ray or image happens veryquickly.
X-ray the same Mammography.
There's a little more time init but it's not as closely
interactive as I'd like, eventhough it's intrusive, but none
(08:04):
of the other modalities, in myopinion, have the ability to sit
with your patient long enoughto have a true connection, and
it's a way to show your qualityservice to your patients,
because they're going to needyou.
If they're not in pain, they'rein emotional distress.
(08:27):
If they're not in emotionaldistress, they understand the
importance of the exam to thepoint where this could save my
life.
So they are very grateful andeven when they're upset and
angry, they're still grateful.
They're still grateful, andthat is one area.
Mri is one area where you canactually showcase your skills in
(08:56):
quality patient care.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
So that's why I chose MRI.
Thank you so much for that.
And I actually have to chucklea little because I'll never
forget.
I was in a car accident acouple of years back and I went
you know, of course they sendyou to the emergency room and I
went in the emergency room and Ihad an MRI done lawsuit
(09:20):
involved and I had an MRI done.
So the attorney that I went tofor the accident, he was like
well, what did you have done?
I said I had an x-ray.
I went and I had an x-ray takenand told him the story about
the x-ray being taken and he waslike, okay, so you actually
didn't have anything done then,right.
And I was like, no, I had anx-ray.
So he sent me to the MRI peopleand they did it and they came
(09:44):
back and they was like no, Idon't even know why.
They told you that wasn't there.
You actually have a hairlinefracture.
So when you just said that aminute ago like you can actually
literally see what's on theX-ray you know what's on the MRI
versus what's on the X-ray Itold them.
I was like you know what?
That's why they did that,because you could actually
(10:04):
literally see with the eye youcould see what's actually going
on there.
So I mean, versus them sendingme home and saying, oh, there's
nothing there, we don't seeanything, but this is doing the
x-ray.
I really did need to have anMRI done.
So thank you so much forexplaining that to me and for
those of you that don't knowthat if you have an MRI done and
(10:25):
that MRI after the MRI is doneand they're telling you, no, no,
no, no, there's nothing wrong,and you're going through life
and you're like, okay, yeah,there is really something wrong
with me.
I don't really know what'swrong with it.
Ask your provider to send youto an MRI facility, to send you
(10:45):
to an MRI facility.
I myself I encourage offsite MRIfacilities because of the cost.
So if you go to an offsite MRIcenter meaning one where it's
not affiliated with the hospitalyou're not walking through the
hospital door.
You're going to an offsitefacility.
Your insurance company will paymore on it because the price is
(11:07):
lower.
You're not getting aprofessional fee and a technical
fee.
Whenever you go into thehospital for anything, you're
automatically walking in withtwo bills, a minimum of two
bills going out that door when,if you go to an off-site
facility, you're only havingthat one bill.
(11:28):
And I just had thisconversation the other day with
someone that says every time Igo to the, she was getting labs.
And she said every time I go, Iget a bill of $500.
And I'm like where are yougoing for your labs?
And she told me where she wasgoing and I was like well, the
(11:50):
reason why you're getting thishigh bill every time you have
labs is because you're goinginto a hospital and whenever you
enter a hospital, you'reautomatically assessed to these,
automatically.
It doesn't matter, say you go inthere, you need labs, they find
something else wrong with you.
Well, the bill just keeps goingup and up and up and up and up.
She said I didn't know that.
How was I supposed to know that?
I said, yeah, many patientsdon't know it, which is why we
(12:10):
started the podcast and which iswhy we do the work that we do
to make sure that patientsunderstand what they are doing
and how they're doing it and howit impacts financially, how it
impacts them.
So that's just my little tidbitwhen it comes down to where to
go.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
And can I add to that ?
So it's important you bring upa great point about what you're
being charged for.
Now, if your ailment is onethat requires you to go to a
(12:49):
hospital, make sure you do yourdue diligence in checking out
which facility kind ofspecialize in your issue.
Outpatient facilities may nothave a MRI capability to do,
let's say, cardiac, and you mayhave to go to a hospital for
(13:12):
that.
Or some facilities may notspecialize in livers and a
hospital may.
So I've had it where, justbecause I've worked in both
outpatient facilities andhospital, I've had providers
send their patients to us in thehospital after they have had
(13:38):
their exam at an outpatientfacility, only because they
didn't have the specializationof that exam.
So one of the hospitals I lastworked at in downtown Fort Worth
had a specialty in livers andhe wanted his patients to be
(14:02):
seen at our facility justbecause of the specialization.
So just make sure that you doyour due diligence to see if
this is a serious ailment and Ineed specialization treatments
etc.
Find out what facility be itoutpatient or not, if they do
(14:25):
plenty of those.
If you're having a kidney issue, how many kidney exams are you
all doing here, Just so you knowyou won't have to go later
because the results from thatfacility isn't good enough and
he or she just sends you toanother facility that specialize
(14:46):
in it that you know does abetter job.
So I just wanted to add that.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
And I thank you so much for adding that, because
this is where it's important forpatients to know about Sandra L
, about Tom's Foundation.
Is this that's part of apatient's responsibility?
About Tom's foundation?
Is this that's part of apatient's responsibility?
We have responsibilities whenit comes to our healthcare as
well.
So part of your responsibilityof being a patient and being an
(15:15):
engaged patient and educatedpatient and empowered patient is
looking at your benefits thatyou have or calling the
insurance company because you'repaying them.
Your insurance is paying foryou to have access to your
insurance company's customerservice reps.
(15:36):
Why are we paying for thingsand we're not using them?
So call your insurance companyif it's not an emergent and it's
an urgent but not an emergentand you have some time call your
insurance company and have themdo their job that they're
getting paid for.
Where can I go?
My doctor is sending me.
He needs to have this.
(15:58):
Where can I go?
One you have proof that youspoke to somebody.
Please notate when you calledthem, who you spoke to when you
called, so that they could pulla record if they need to pull a
record.
The other thing is you call theinsurance company and say, hey,
I went here and you're chargingme a higher fee, but I went
(16:19):
here because my doctor sent mehere, because the other places
in town outpatient facilities orother hospitals they didn't
have the equipment, the correctequipment, to treat me.
That is part of your patientresponsibility.
God didn't give us this to bequiet.
(16:39):
He gave it to us for us tospeak up, for us to ask
questions and for us to be incontrol and self-advocate for
ourselves.
If you have a problemself-advocating, reach out.
You do have help.
I get tired of hearing but noone was here to tell me and I
didn't have help.
Call, pick up the phone and callChoms and ask us you know
(17:01):
doctors saying this what shouldI do If you're not sure?
Can you help me?
Us Doctors saying this whatshould I do If you're not sure?
Can you help me?
If you're not sure?
There's all types of advocatesthat will help you do the same
thing.
Pick up the phone and call, butdon't sit there and say okay,
well, I didn't know, because Ididn't know is an excuse when
you have every right and youhave all the resources that you
(17:21):
need to have to actually knowwhat you should and shouldn't do
and what you can and cannot doso.
Stop you know, stop it.
Stop saying I didn't know that.
Yeah, that's a.
That's a point that drives me.
Now I want to ask you can youshare an example of a patient
who followed instructions andhad a good patient experience,
(17:43):
and then one that did not dowhat they were supposed to do
and the experience did not gowell?
Speaker 2 (17:50):
Yes, oh, plenty of those.
So well, okay, the firstexample of a patient following
directions to a T.
So I like to use examples withcardiac scanning, just because
it can be very complex andthere's not a lot of
(18:14):
technologists, mri technologists, mri and then texts that can
actually scan cardiacs.
Hearts are a small group and tocome across a facility that
(18:41):
scan hearts is another challenge.
So when we have a patient thathas a cardiac exam, there's
preparation that has to happen alot of the time.
So, depending on the type ofcardiac scan, the preparation
can very well be no caffeinewithin 24 hours of your exam.
(19:07):
Caffeine will speed up yourheart rate and cause your exam
(19:28):
to dress, what to wear whencoming in and how to prepare for
their cardiac exam and the timethat it was going to take.
So for this particular exam,there was no caffeine and the
patient had to be aware thatthis exam could take up to two
(19:49):
hours.
So the doctor and good thing wehad this phone call prior,
because the doctor told them oh,this exam will take you 30
minutes, you'll be in and out 30minutes.
So it is time consuming for thetechnologists to have to make
(20:12):
these phone calls, pre-procedurephone calls ahead of time.
But it's also very necessary ina lot of instances where you
have patients show up thinkingtheir exam, you know, is only 30
minutes and it could be twohours.
So we had a nice littleconversation before he showed up
.
He showed up no caffeine, readyto go and I told him okay, I
(20:37):
need you to go use the restroom.
He's like, I don't have to go,I need you to go use the
restroom because this exam couldtake up to two hours.
We don't want to get in themiddle of your exam and then you
have to get up and we have tostart over.
So he of course okay, let me gotry.
And of course he did tinkle abit and came back and because he
(20:59):
followed exam so orinstructions so well with the
breathing instructions.
So for some cardiac exam thebreath hold is different, just
depending on the technologies orwhat the radiologist wants.
But the breath hold could be alittle challenging.
A lot of the exams the techwill say taking a breath and
(21:23):
hold it.
Well, for the cardiac exams,for the most optimal image, we
say taking a breath, blow it outand then hold your breath.
So it's a little harder.
So try holding your breath for20 seconds after you've breathed
your air out, so you have noair on reserve in your lungs.
(21:47):
You just breathe that out, andthen you got to try to hold that
for 20 seconds.
It's a little harder, so Icoached him through it.
We, you know, practiced acouple of times prior to getting
started and he did magnificentand his exam was an hour An hour
(22:09):
.
It could have took up to twohours depending on how hard he
was or how hard of a time he washaving with the breath holds or
him moving all around and wehaving to go reposition him, but
he followed instructions to theT and was done in half the time
and was done in half the time.
So that's the importance oflistening to your technologist,
(22:33):
because there's a reason behindthe madness.
So, if you're able to do it,please listen and take heed,
because it could save you thetime and it could save you the
uncomfortability of being onthat hard table.
Now, on the opposite side ofthat, a patient who did not
listen to that same instructionsfor a cardiac exam and not only
(22:56):
did they drink their coffeethat morning, their caffeinated
coffee that morning speed uptheir heart rate.
So that was an issue during theexam.
They didn't follow theinstructions of go use the
restroom prior to getting on thetable and they had to use the
restroom right after I injectedthe contrast.
(23:21):
Now let me explain how thecontrast works.
Works An MRI and this of coursewill vary from facility to
facility, but most contrastagents the hospital facility
will say you cannot re-injectthat patient within 24 hours.
(23:44):
Some radiologists will takeover and say you know, I don't
see enough contrast in.
You can give more contrast andput my name on it.
Or you know they can't getcontrast again until another 24
hours, and that's usually therule of thumb, right?
You cannot re-inject.
Your dosage is based on yourweight.
(24:06):
So how much you weighdetermines the kilograms you're
able to get, or the millilitersthat you're able to get for the
contrast.
Well, after the injection ofthe contrast, contrast goes all
over your body.
So it does not just go to thearea that we're scanning, it
(24:27):
goes all over your body and itgets absorbed and you pee it out
.
Basically, so it's not kept inyour body.
But once you inject you can'tgo backwards, you can't start
over because the contrast isalready there.
(24:48):
So after the injection there isa timing of images.
That has to happen right afterinjection and if you miss that
time you've missed what thedoctor needs to see within the
heart muscle to let them knowwhat he's looking at or what
he's looking for.
To let him know what he'slooking at or what he's looking
(25:11):
for.
So, patient, squeeze the ball.
I have to use the restroom.
I'm like, well, I just injectthe contrast.
Can you help hold out for atleast another 15 minutes so we
can get the most importantimages done?
That way we can give the doctorsomething to look at.
And a lot of doctors, if it'snot a whole exam, they won't
read it at all at.
(25:32):
And a lot of doctors, if it'snot a whole exam, they won't
read it at all.
So he couldn't wait.
He had to get up and go and hehad to reschedule.
So we had already done an houron the table of scanning just
for him to push the button inthe middle of and say, no, I
have to go and have to start allover.
You have to call schedulingagain.
You have to get back on theschedule.
(25:52):
You have to, you know, do yourscreening form again.
All of that over, because he didnot want to listen.
To go, try to use the restroombefore we get you on this table,
because it could take up to twohours.
So it's important.
It's important to listen and,like I said, it's a method to
(26:16):
the madness.
So listen to your technologistsand ask questions, because a
lot of technologists get busyand forget to say hey, go, try
to use the restroom before weget you on this table.
Or make sure you let us know ifyou have any uncomfortable
feeling before we get you on thetable and then, 15 minutes into
(26:38):
it, you need to reposition,messing up the image.
We try to get you ascomfortable as possible right in
the beginning.
That way you don't have to feelthe need or urge to move and
mess up the image.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
Thank you so much for that.
And once again it drawsattention to patients'
responsibilities.
You are responsible and youjust heard her.
You're responsible for calling.
You know when the doctor givesyou a sheet of paper and says
here's a lab, here's an MRIorder, I want you to have an MRI
.
You're responsible for makingsure that your patient
(27:15):
experience is good and you coulddo that by calling the MRI
facility that is going to do theMRI.
Because she just told you thatdoctors a lot of times do not
know that an MRI could take upto two hours.
They don't even know MRI couldtake up to two hours.
They don't even know it couldtake up to an hour.
They're just giving you a sheetand you're following the
doctor's order.
(27:35):
Stop having that white coatsyndrome.
And that white coat syndromecomes in when we go to the
doctor and we say well, thedoctor has white coat and he's
an authority, so he should knowbetter than I should know.
I say this all the time.
Healthcare is no longer truly ahealthcare process.
It's a business process.
(27:57):
There's money attached tocontracts, contracts attached to
time.
So a lot of times, while ourdoctors we love our doctors we
want you to talk to your doctorsand actually have those
conversations.
But we need you to stop havingthat white coat syndrome where
you're like, well, the doctorsaid no, what do you say?
It's your body.
(28:18):
Your doctor doesn't controlyour body.
If you have a question orconcern, raise it with the
doctor.
But do your part in making sureyour patient experience is good
is beautiful by saying now youknow to ask okay, well, let me
go call them and see what I needto do before I have this done,
(28:39):
so that you're not getting thereand then getting frustrated
your patient experience ishorrible.
You're blaming it on MRI people, but it's really not their
fault.
You have the information, nowthat you know, to call your MRI
facility, say what do I need todo?
You also have the informationthat you need to say well, let
me check with my insurancecompany to see what MRI facility
(29:03):
I can go to.
And then, when they tell mewhat MRI facility I can go to,
you're going to then askprayerfully.
You're going to then ask well,do they specialize in whatever
kind of MRI that you want tohave before you go, have it done
.
So we actually already, in lessthan 20 minutes, we've actually
already picked up on two veryvalid points that need to occur
(29:27):
when we go to the facility tohave an MRI done.
I do want to bring up anotherincident that I read about
recently.
She talked about this in one ofher last episodes that she's
done with us.
There was an article in thenews that stated that a wife was
(29:47):
having an MRI done.
The husband was in the waitingroom.
She asked them to go get thehusband.
The husband comes into the roombut when he comes on into the
room he has some metal chains onhim that actually, because they
were metal and because it wasan MRI machine, the MRI machine
was attached to that metal.
(30:08):
That husband lost his lifebecause he was in that room with
jewelry on that he shouldn'thave had on.
Now, did he know he shouldn'thave had it?
I don't know the only person'svery important that you know why
it is that they tell you whenyou have an MRI, not to have
(30:32):
that kind of jewelry on or whatyou should and shouldn't be
wearing.
So, sherry, can you cover thata little bit for us please?
Speaker 2 (30:40):
Of course, of course.
Now, this was a very recentstory, recent story, and so the
initial story, the initial story, was that he did have a
necklace on.
The wife did call him and hewent in there, got stuck to the
(31:03):
magnet and after reading thisinitial story, I said there's no
way, there's no way.
A necklace, there's no way, nowit will pull.
But to get stuck to the magnetto the point of choking you out
(31:38):
and ultimately losing your life,it's no way.
But after stories and thingsare still coming out because,
like I said, this is recent,after a few more stories came
out about it, it wasn't just anormal necklace, okay, it was a
weight training chain.
So a lot of, a lot of peoplewho train weightlifting, train
(32:02):
train, uh, training in the gym,et cetera, um, or ankle weights,
um, it's a chain used forweight training.
So it's a big, thick chain andhe had to have had it wrapped up
in, you know, like a blackcloth, just like the ankle
weights.
It's not just showing metal,it's cloth around the metal or
(32:26):
the sandbag or whatever theweight is, it's something around
it.
So that made more sense and itmakes perfect sense.
Okay, the bigger the metalpiece, the more attracted it is
to the magnet, which is why amagnet an MRI machine can pull a
car can pull a car.
(32:58):
Okay, so we now know that itwas a weight training chain that
was pulled in.
So, although this was anoutpatient MRI facility, this
incident happened in a trailer,which is basically a trailer
that has an MRI machine on it.
So they may have had issueswith one of their magnets that's
inside the facility.
(33:19):
So they paid for a trailer tocome on site to still keep up
with the patient load mode.
Okay, so on the trailer, thetechnologist allowed the husband
to come in to help his wife,and this happened in New Jersey.
(33:44):
Okay, this story is in NewJersey and from what I read, the
husband had been able to helphis wife multiple times before
and initially I had read anarticle said that you know he
had a chain on in a you know inanother exam that she had.
Well, I don't know if he mustnot have gotten as close as he
(34:07):
did this time or what, but whenyou allow patients' family
members into zone three zonethree is just outside of the
room that the scanner is in youhave had to do a screening form
on that patient's family memberas well.
(34:29):
Even though they're not gettingand having the exam, they're
close to the magnet, just likethat patient is, so they're
needing to fill out the MRIscreening form as well.
It is our responsibility astechnologists to ensure that
(34:50):
whomever is in whether it be anurse or a patient's family
member helping out with thatpatient, it is our
responsibility to check, checkand recheck the patients and
their family members and thenurses and the staff that's
going to come into zone four,where the magnet is.
(35:10):
It is our responsibility tomake sure they have nothing that
is metallic on their person andthat can be attracted to the
magnet.
Our responsibility can beattracted to the magnet our
(35:31):
responsibility.
So initially they were sayingthat.
You know there were peoplespeculating that he must not
have listened to thetechnologist.
He just went in there afterhearing his wife call out for
help to help get her off thetable and we actually saw a
video.
So there is a video and I havethat video.
(35:53):
It's a little disturbing.
You can't really make outexactly.
It's not an up-close video.
It's a video of the doorway andyou can see the patient laying
there on the table.
You can see the husband go into assist her to get up off the
(36:14):
table.
You can even see thetechnologist go in after the
patient's family member.
So the technologist goes to oneside of the table, the
patient's family member, thehusband, go on the other side of
the table and he's helping herup.
The technologist is not helping, so the husband is helping her
(36:36):
up.
Well, he has his back to thescanner, and you can see all of
this.
He has his back to the scanner.
Well, as he's trying to pullher up into an upright position,
he gets too close to thescanner, which pulls the chain.
It pulls the chain, pulling himsmack up into the scanner,
(36:59):
pulls him, starts pulling him inthe scanner and at this time,
of course, you can see himstruggling.
You can see the wife trying topull on her husband to get him
off of the scanner and thetechnologist looks like that.
They are lost for words as towhat to do next.
(37:22):
Now, any professional in thisinstance and I'm not throwing
dirt on any technologists wehave a very hard job and there's
a lot of patients who will notlisten to us to save their lives
, but you are the last stop whenit comes to your department.
You are.
(37:43):
I have had people cuss me out.
I have had people threaten me.
I'm coming in there.
No, you're not.
No, you're not Because theydon't understand that you can
actually be seriously injured orlose your life.
And it does not seem that thetechnologist was even trying to
(38:08):
prevent the patient's family orthe husband from coming into the
scan room.
It doesn't seem that theyvetted him to make sure he was
able to go into the MRI room.
None of it seems that way.
Per a video that is out there.
Per a video that is out there.
(38:30):
So the technologist is standingthere and then, of course, they
just cut the video off.
I don't know if the guy, fromwhat I read, the guy passed out
at the scanner but he didn't dieuntil a couple of days later.
I want to say couple of dayslater.
(38:56):
I want to say but the protocol,when someone is in danger
whether you bring a wrongwheelchair in and it's stuck
between the patient, or thepatient is stuck between the
wheelchair and the scanner, orthe nurses, or you are there is
a quench button in the MRIcontrol room that that
technologist could have ran tohit the quench button, it lets
(39:20):
off cryogens in the air.
It demagnetizes the magnet.
It's a process, but it slowlystarts demagnetizing the magnet.
It's thousands of dollars toget that magnet back, ramped up
and performing as it's supposedto, which I know is why a lot of
(39:44):
technologists are scared tohave to hit that button.
But when we're talking aboutlife and death and you're
probably scared you're going tolose your job or whatever, but
you're talking about life anddeath go hit the button.
We can talk about what happened,why it happened later, but go
(40:04):
hit the button to save thisindividual's life.
They didn't do it.
Now, apparently, that patientwas stuck to the magnet and I
want to say they struggled withtrying to get him off of the
magnet for at least 30 minutes,from what I read.
Way too long to be strugglingwith a magnet, a huge magnet
(40:33):
that you're not going to win.
If you've ever looked upYouTube videos on magnets and
them testing different thingslike putting a chair up there or
putting some scissors andwatching the magnet pull it into
the magnet when it's somethinglike a chair, four guys try to
(40:57):
pull a chair off of the magnetand cannot do it.
Four men can't do it.
So for them to try to strugglewith this man I'll even say over
10 minutes is too long Tryingto get him off of the magnet.
(41:19):
It was not happening, so thatman tragically lost his life.
And again there is stillinformation coming out about
that story.
It was unfortunate.
I just don't see how ithappened to the point of I'm not
even going to run and quenchthe magnet.
(41:45):
Now there is a lot of lax.
There is a lot ofcomfortability.
That comes with our profession.
People get in it, theycross-train in it.
There's now MRI schools whereyou don't have to go get a
degree.
The training that is needed isnot there anymore.
(42:11):
Everything is like this.
It's like you said earlier,sandra the hospital, the
healthcare field, is a businessand MRIs are now faster.
They're putting more patientson the schedule and it's almost
being treated like CT and x-ray,where they're in and out, in
(42:31):
and out, in and out, in and out.
And laziness is starting tocreep in with some of the
technologists and they're notdoing their due diligence.
They just ask the patients doyou have any metal on?
No, and a lot of people willforget what they have on their
person.
And if I'm your technologist,you are going to see me almost
(42:53):
pat you down.
If I suspect that there'sanything on your person.
They'll just sit there and kindof look and go no, I don't have
anything.
And I'll say, are you sure, asI'm touching areas where I
(43:20):
suspect you may have something,and they're oh, I have this that
can't go in there.
So it's a lot of patients thatjust don't remember having some,
which is why it's important tobe okay with changing into a
gown or the paper cloth, shortsand shirt that they give you at
some facilities.
You have to be okay withchanging out of that stuff.
(43:40):
I had a woman argue me downabout a sports bra and it not
having a metal.
I had to go get a small metaldetector to let her know that
the clamps on her sports bra wasmetal.
She just argued me no, it'splastic, it's plastic.
It's plastic.
No, ma'am, that needs to comeoff, it's metal.
I had to go get the metaldetector to prove.
(44:01):
She was like oh my gosh, it ismetal.
Now we've wasted 10 minutesgoing back and forth and you
could have just snatched thesports bra off and we could have
this, you know, done.
So it's very important to beprepared to come out of all of
your clothing.
Let your technologist know ofanything that you may have on
(44:22):
your person.
Um, if you're going to help afamily member out, uh, to get
through an exam, and a lot oftimes you just won't be able to
get the MRI, and some patientsare, you know, they really want
the exam to happen that day.
So I've had to have a womanreschedule and she came in
(44:44):
through the ER.
She had hair extensions withthe metal clips all over her
head and she was there to get abrain MRI.
There was no way, no way.
So she had her mom go to thebeauty store to buy the tool
that unclamped all of these hairlittle pieces all throughout
(45:04):
her hair so she could have anMRI.
So she could have an MRI.
It's important that you sharewith your technologist what you
may have on your person beforegoing into zone three.
Speaker 1 (45:17):
So Thank you so much for that and thank you for
clarifying exactly what happened.
You know, when you said 30minutes, you know what you said.
(45:45):
The machine is called quench.
I actually took a really deepbreath because I'm like, within
that 30 minutes, no one thatlisten to the show or that I
speak to on a regular basis thatneed to know that if you're
helping someone that you love inan MRI, you know, take an MRI
or be in the MRI room, just makesure that you're just as down.
(46:07):
You're just as down, you ain'tgot nothing on you the same as
that patient does, becausethat's the last thing we want to
happen is that, as a caregiver,your own health is put in
jeopardy because you're notlistening or you didn't know.
So if you're listening to thisand you have someone in your
family that you're caregivingfor, you know of a caregiver,
(46:29):
please remind them that ifthey're going in to help that
person with an MRI, make surethat they know that it's
important for them to be just asdisrobed as far as jewelry and
hair extensions and bras and allthat other stuff as it is the
patient that they're helping.
Thanks so much for that, Sherry.
And then my last question isthis?
(46:50):
Recently I've been reading a lotabout how MRIs now are doing
full body scanning.
Is that on the rise?
How effective is that?
We're actually catching it?
And they're saying they'redoing this to catch different
health conditions and differenthealth diseases.
Speaker 2 (47:13):
So is there what's behind that story.
So that's relatively new and Ihave seen a lot of celebrities
take advantage of that and, fromwhat I understand, I've been
reading a couple of differentarticles about it and on some of
the facilities that offer wholebody scans and I want to say
(47:35):
that the cost for a typicalwhole body scan is around two
grand.
In seeing if there's any issuesthat you may have, without
(47:56):
being so intrusive, I guess itcan be effective.
In seeing if there, if you havemaybe a tumor somewhere or if
you have cysts somewhere or ifthere's any issues probably
within your spine.
But some of those exams andthey probably go up in cost,
(48:19):
depending on what all the focusis with this whole body scan,
because they are doing a basicscan from head to toe.
It's not detailed but it's abasic scan from head to toe just
to see if there's anythinggoing on within what they're
(48:39):
scanning and to give you say,hey, you need to go now, book an
appointment to see about what'sgoing on with your liver
because there may be an issuethere or you know you have a
disc bulging in your back andthat's probably the pain you're
having, or you know it can giveyou basic information which can
(49:03):
be a good start for a lot ofpeople.
Some people just want to know,you know, might there be any
issues ahead of time?
But a lot of times your bodywill let you know before having
to go get a whole body scan.
If you're paying attention toyour body, your body a lot of
(49:24):
times will let you know.
Now it may not in the instanceof possible cancer sneaking up
and depending on if this basicwhole body scanning also
consists of getting contrast,then you still may not know if
(49:51):
this is just the whole body scanminus the contrast.
Contrast agents is needed forpeople who had surgery or
looking to get surgery abscesses, excuse me, and the doctor is
looking for cancer.
So how the contrast work.
If you have a tumor anywhere inyour body and you have an MRI,
(50:11):
you take before images withoutcontrast and then you go inject
the contrast and the contrastwill be drawn to that tumor.
It lights up very well.
So something that you may havemissed without the contrast is
your basic MRI scan.
(50:31):
You are able to see the tumorvery well with the contrast
agent and, depending on if youknow these whole body scans
consist of adding contrastagents, you may or may not know
still that you know you may havean issue of a tumor, whether it
(50:52):
be benign or malignant, problemor not a problem, but you may.
You may still not know.
So I would suggest getting yourlabs drawn as the most
important.
I would suggest you know for apreventative thing.
I think it's popular now, justbecause you know, everybody's
(51:13):
saying, oh, I can go get mywhole body scanned and see what
you know, what could be wrongwith me.
It's popular in that sense ofyou know being able to do it all
at once.
But it's basic, it's basic.
Speaker 1 (51:27):
So just be aware that you still may not know after
getting this exam done thank youso much for that, and that
certainly makes a lot of sense,and that's why I asked you that
question is because you'rehearing more and more about it.
So you take the fact that it'sa basic scan.
(51:48):
You take the fact that what youjust said about we now have MRI
tests that are not reallylooking at this as a career Not
as a career, but looking at itand saying I have someone's life
in my hands.
They're doing it for money andthat's just what it is.
(52:08):
It's a money thing.
They could care less about you.
I mean, that's just a lot ofwhat's going on right now in
healthcare and we can stop it bybeing educated, empowered and
engaged.
Patients asking those questions, making sure that we're safe
when we go in to take an MRI,making sure that the people hey,
(52:29):
if you say you know what, okay,well, I just need a basic MRI,
so I'm just going to do thiswhole body thing Make sure the
person that you're doing istrained on how to do a whole
body scan.
It's just not, you know, justdoing it just because they need
a paycheck, because it's yourlife.
I don't know about you guys,but I'll tell you what I tell
(52:49):
everybody when the good Lordtouches me on my shoulder and
says Sandra, your place is ready, don't be trying to bring me
back.
Because I'm not trying to comeback.
I'm doing everything I can donow so that, when I leave here,
I'm leaving here with a legacyand I'm leaving here by
providing information that otherpeople would know about.
So, yeah, no, I'm not trying tocome back 10, 20, 30 years from
(53:11):
now.
Speaker 2 (53:11):
I'm not trying to do all that which is why I do what
I do now.
Speaker 1 (53:15):
So, without further ado, I'm going to go ahead and
close this session up, but I dowant to remind everyone be kind
always.
It doesn't cost a penny for youto be kind.
You never know what the personon the other end of your
conversation that you're talkingto or dealing with you never
(53:36):
know what they might be goingand you being kind might be just
that touch and just that breakthat they need to.
Either you know one say okay,well, yeah, I am kind of rude to
this person and I'm not surewhy or for them to say you know
what, yeah, this is my day.
I'm going to continue to makemy day by pushing it and paying
(53:58):
it forward.
As I tell everyone, each one,reach one, teach one.
I don't care what it is, if youknow it, teach it and reach out
to others so that they canteach it to others.
So, without further ado I keepsaying without further ado.
This is my second time sayingthis, but I do want to remind
(54:19):
everyone of the extraordinaryevent that is coming up on
October 25th in Chicago Illinois.
October 25th in ChicagoIllinois, we have 10 speakers
that will be speaking ondifferent unseen and unheard of
health disease conditions thatare in our community that we
(54:40):
know very little or nothingabout.
The little yellow school busthat comes down the street is
not stopping in our communitiesto let us know about these
diseases.
So, chalms, many Helps.
Along with this illustriousevent, panelists and speakers
will be actually coming to sharesome information.
(55:00):
If you'd like information, moreinformation about this event,
please do reach out to sandra atchomsfoundationcom that's
C-H-L-M-S foundationcom and alsokeep your eye out on our flyers
that we will be passing out inour post.
That will be not passing outwill be we'd be posting up on
(55:24):
social media.
Thanks everyone, so much forlistening and please, please,
please, remember to be kindalways.
Good day everyone, and thank you so much for
joining again in another episodeof Speaking with Sandra L,
where it's all about the patientexperience.
Why is the patient experienceimportant?
Well, it's important because weare the key factors in the
healthcare system, are the keyfactors in the healthcare system
(00:29):
and many times we, as patients,we don't see ourselves as
having the power.
We don't see ourselves as doingthat, but we are in fact.
We do in fact hold that power.
We do in fact hold that power,and so it's important for us to
know that and it's important forus to recognize that.
What I am going to do today isI'm going to start in a moment.
(00:52):
I was trying to wait to seewhat was going on with LinkedIn.
For some reason, it's showingme LinkedIn is having an issue.
So we're going to proceed aheadbecause I'm not going to hold
this up and, since this is apodcast, my lovely people on
LinkedIn will see this.
If they're not seeing it livenow, they will, in fact, see
this at a later date, but itwill come up.
(01:16):
So today's episode, we havespeaking with us Sharae Reid.
Sharae Reid and I'm so gratefulto her because every time,
choms has reached out from thebeginning and said we're doing
this or we're doing that.
She's like count me in, I wantto be counted in, and so I count
her in, and she always comesthrough for us, and we need her
(01:40):
to come through for us becauseshe has some information that we
all need to hear.
Now I happen to be looking,scrolling one day through my
emails, and I saw where therewas an incident that happened
with the MRI that she's going toget into in a little while that
we all need, and this will notbe her first time telling us
(02:03):
this as patients, because she'scome on our shows and she's said
this plenty of times before.
However, some people get it andsome people don't get it, and
when they don't get it, it hurtsus as patients, because then
our patient experience ishorrible.
Oh, I'm not doing an MRI, Ihate that MRI, I'm this, that
(02:24):
and the other.
It's horrible.
Oh, I'm not doing an MRI, Ihate that MRI, I'm this, that
and the other.
And that's because you're notreally preparing yourselves for
the MRI experience before ithappens.
So when things happen asshappened in the story that we're
going to go over in a minute ortwo to this young man that
didn't listen.
Well, he didn't have Sandra Land he didn't have a patient
(02:45):
experience podcast to forewarnhim, but those of you who are
listening, you now have theinformation.
You will be having theinformation that you need to
have when it comes down to whatyou can do taking the MRI to
actually have the most optimal,best healthcare experience ever
with an MRI, and no longer willyou have anxiety or freeze up,
(03:08):
but you'll be able to know.
In addition to those things thatwe'll be talking, those stories
that we'll be talking about,we're also going to share some
what's going on now.
And there's something else thatI've read about recently and I
keep seeing it in the news andI'm like, okay, well, I have a
perfect expert coming on my show, so we're going to discuss that
.
So I'm not even going to lookat this, but I am going to ask
(03:31):
her about it Without further ado.
I'm going to go ahead andintroduce Sharae Reid, I'm going
to let her introduce herselfand then we'll get into the
question and answer section.
Sharae, tell us all about you.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Thank you so much, sandra.
I'm always grateful to be apart of your patient demographic
that come on and join your show, and to you and your
organization, thank you.
I appreciate you.
As Sandra said, my name isSheree Reed.
(04:06):
I am the patient carestrategist.
I have been in the healthcarefield close to 25 years now, and
specifically in the radiologyfield close to 20 years, and
I've been an MRI technologistfor over 15 years and, seeing it
(04:26):
all from the extremely happylet's get this done.
I'm not going to be phased byan MRI machine or exam to the
extremely frightful crying.
There's no way I'm getting inthere patient.
(04:49):
So the demographic is vast.
So you have to be able to speakto each of those patients where
they are, speak to each ofthose patients where they are,
(05:10):
and you have to be able to calmthem down enough to get through
the exam successfully and getthe doctors what they need in
order to diagnose them properly.
So, yeah, it's been a journeyand I continue on it and the joy
I get from patient experienceand what I do to provide great
quality patient care for mypatients I've done for many,
(05:32):
many years and it's an absolutejoy of mine.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Thank you so much, and so my next question to you
is this and you just gave us alittle bit about it what
initially drew you to the fieldof MRI technology?
I mean, you could have been anx-ray tech, you could have been
a CT scan.
You're just like no, no, no, Idon't want none of that.
I want to concentrate on MRIs.
So what made you concentrate onMRIs?
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Well, to be honest, I actually started as an x-ray
tech.
I went to school and got myassociates in radiology as an
x-ray tech and I did that for, Iwant to say, about 10, 12 years
and then I decided I wanted togo back to school and get my MRI
(06:25):
certification.
And I chose MRI because, out ofall the other modalities
whether it be CAT scan,ultrasonography, nuclear
medicine, radiation therapy,memo, mammography, memo
(06:53):
mammography MRI was the onlymodality that you can look at an
image and know exactly whatyou're looking at.
And for me, going intosomething new, I that was
important to me because, youknow, I checked that ultrasound
and I'm like I don't know whatI'm looking at.
I have no idea what this blackand white image is and unless
it's a baby, I am lost inultrasound.
(07:16):
So I chose MRI specificallyjust because everything shows up
so well.
You can see hair follicles,hair follicles on your skin in
MRI.
That's how great MRI is and Iwas excited about that.
(07:39):
And the time that you can takewith each patient.
See, with CT it's very quick.
The x-ray or image happens veryquickly.
X-ray the same Mammography.
There's a little more time init but it's not as closely
interactive as I'd like, eventhough it's intrusive, but none
(08:04):
of the other modalities, in myopinion, have the ability to sit
with your patient long enoughto have a true connection, and
it's a way to show your qualityservice to your patients,
because they're going to needyou.
If they're not in pain, they'rein emotional distress.
(08:27):
If they're not in emotionaldistress, they understand the
importance of the exam to thepoint where this could save my
life.
So they are very grateful andeven when they're upset and
angry, they're still grateful.
They're still grateful, andthat is one area.
Mri is one area where you canactually showcase your skills in
(08:56):
quality patient care.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
So that's why I chose MRI.
Thank you so much for that.
And I actually have to chucklea little because I'll never
forget.
I was in a car accident acouple of years back and I went
you know, of course they sendyou to the emergency room and I
went in the emergency room and Ihad an MRI done lawsuit
(09:20):
involved and I had an MRI done.
So the attorney that I went tofor the accident, he was like
well, what did you have done?
I said I had an x-ray.
I went and I had an x-ray takenand told him the story about
the x-ray being taken and he waslike, okay, so you actually
didn't have anything done then,right.
And I was like, no, I had anx-ray.
So he sent me to the MRI peopleand they did it and they came
(09:44):
back and they was like no, Idon't even know why.
They told you that wasn't there.
You actually have a hairlinefracture.
So when you just said that aminute ago like you can actually
literally see what's on theX-ray you know what's on the MRI
versus what's on the X-ray Itold them.
I was like you know what?
That's why they did that,because you could actually
(10:04):
literally see with the eye youcould see what's actually going
on there.
So I mean, versus them sendingme home and saying, oh, there's
nothing there, we don't seeanything, but this is doing the
x-ray.
I really did need to have anMRI done.
So thank you so much forexplaining that to me and for
those of you that don't knowthat if you have an MRI done and
(10:25):
that MRI after the MRI is doneand they're telling you, no, no,
no, no, there's nothing wrong,and you're going through life
and you're like, okay, yeah,there is really something wrong
with me.
I don't really know what'swrong with it.
Ask your provider to send youto an MRI facility, to send you
(10:45):
to an MRI facility.
I myself I encourage offsite MRIfacilities because of the cost.
So if you go to an offsite MRIcenter meaning one where it's
not affiliated with the hospitalyou're not walking through the
hospital door.
You're going to an offsitefacility.
Your insurance company will paymore on it because the price is
(11:07):
lower.
You're not getting aprofessional fee and a technical
fee.
Whenever you go into thehospital for anything, you're
automatically walking in withtwo bills, a minimum of two
bills going out that door when,if you go to an off-site
facility, you're only havingthat one bill.
(11:28):
And I just had thisconversation the other day with
someone that says every time Igo to the, she was getting labs.
And she said every time I go, Iget a bill of $500.
And I'm like where are yougoing for your labs?
And she told me where she wasgoing and I was like well, the
(11:50):
reason why you're getting thishigh bill every time you have
labs is because you're goinginto a hospital and whenever you
enter a hospital, you'reautomatically assessed to these,
automatically.
It doesn't matter, say you go inthere, you need labs, they find
something else wrong with you.
Well, the bill just keeps goingup and up and up and up and up.
She said I didn't know that.
How was I supposed to know that?
I said, yeah, many patientsdon't know it, which is why we
(12:10):
started the podcast and which iswhy we do the work that we do
to make sure that patientsunderstand what they are doing
and how they're doing it and howit impacts financially, how it
impacts them.
So that's just my little tidbitwhen it comes down to where to
go.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
And can I add to that ?
So it's important you bring upa great point about what you're
being charged for.
Now, if your ailment is onethat requires you to go to a
(12:49):
hospital, make sure you do yourdue diligence in checking out
which facility kind ofspecialize in your issue.
Outpatient facilities may nothave a MRI capability to do,
let's say, cardiac, and you mayhave to go to a hospital for
(13:12):
that.
Or some facilities may notspecialize in livers and a
hospital may.
So I've had it where, justbecause I've worked in both
outpatient facilities andhospital, I've had providers
send their patients to us in thehospital after they have had
(13:38):
their exam at an outpatientfacility, only because they
didn't have the specializationof that exam.
So one of the hospitals I lastworked at in downtown Fort Worth
had a specialty in livers andhe wanted his patients to be
(14:02):
seen at our facility justbecause of the specialization.
So just make sure that you doyour due diligence to see if
this is a serious ailment and Ineed specialization treatments
etc.
Find out what facility be itoutpatient or not, if they do
(14:25):
plenty of those.
If you're having a kidney issue, how many kidney exams are you
all doing here, Just so you knowyou won't have to go later
because the results from thatfacility isn't good enough and
he or she just sends you toanother facility that specialize
(14:46):
in it that you know does abetter job.
So I just wanted to add that.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
And I thank you so much for adding that, because
this is where it's important forpatients to know about Sandra L
, about Tom's Foundation.
Is this that's part of apatient's responsibility?
About Tom's foundation?
Is this that's part of apatient's responsibility?
We have responsibilities whenit comes to our healthcare as
well.
So part of your responsibilityof being a patient and being an
(15:15):
engaged patient and educatedpatient and empowered patient is
looking at your benefits thatyou have or calling the
insurance company because you'repaying them.
Your insurance is paying foryou to have access to your
insurance company's customerservice reps.
(15:36):
Why are we paying for thingsand we're not using them?
So call your insurance companyif it's not an emergent and it's
an urgent but not an emergentand you have some time call your
insurance company and have themdo their job that they're
getting paid for.
Where can I go?
My doctor is sending me.
He needs to have this.
(15:58):
Where can I go?
One you have proof that youspoke to somebody.
Please notate when you calledthem, who you spoke to when you
called, so that they could pulla record if they need to pull a
record.
The other thing is you call theinsurance company and say, hey,
I went here and you're chargingme a higher fee, but I went
(16:19):
here because my doctor sent mehere, because the other places
in town outpatient facilities orother hospitals they didn't
have the equipment, the correctequipment, to treat me.
That is part of your patientresponsibility.
God didn't give us this to bequiet.
(16:39):
He gave it to us for us tospeak up, for us to ask
questions and for us to be incontrol and self-advocate for
ourselves.
If you have a problemself-advocating, reach out.
You do have help.
I get tired of hearing but noone was here to tell me and I
didn't have help.
Call, pick up the phone and callChoms and ask us you know
(17:01):
doctors saying this what shouldI do If you're not sure?
Can you help me?
Us Doctors saying this whatshould I do If you're not sure?
Can you help me?
If you're not sure?
There's all types of advocatesthat will help you do the same
thing.
Pick up the phone and call, butdon't sit there and say okay,
well, I didn't know, because Ididn't know is an excuse when
you have every right and youhave all the resources that you
(17:21):
need to have to actually knowwhat you should and shouldn't do
and what you can and cannot doso.
Stop you know, stop it.
Stop saying I didn't know that.
Yeah, that's a.
That's a point that drives me.
Now I want to ask you can youshare an example of a patient
who followed instructions andhad a good patient experience,
(17:43):
and then one that did not dowhat they were supposed to do
and the experience did not gowell?
Speaker 2 (17:50):
Yes, oh, plenty of those.
So well, okay, the firstexample of a patient following
directions to a T.
So I like to use examples withcardiac scanning, just because
it can be very complex andthere's not a lot of
(18:14):
technologists, mri technologists, mri and then texts that can
actually scan cardiacs.
Hearts are a small group and tocome across a facility that
(18:41):
scan hearts is another challenge.
So when we have a patient thathas a cardiac exam, there's
preparation that has to happen alot of the time.
So, depending on the type ofcardiac scan, the preparation
can very well be no caffeinewithin 24 hours of your exam.
(19:07):
Caffeine will speed up yourheart rate and cause your exam
(19:28):
to dress, what to wear whencoming in and how to prepare for
their cardiac exam and the timethat it was going to take.
So for this particular exam,there was no caffeine and the
patient had to be aware thatthis exam could take up to two
(19:49):
hours.
So the doctor and good thing wehad this phone call prior,
because the doctor told them oh,this exam will take you 30
minutes, you'll be in and out 30minutes.
So it is time consuming for thetechnologists to have to make
(20:12):
these phone calls, pre-procedurephone calls ahead of time.
But it's also very necessary ina lot of instances where you
have patients show up thinkingtheir exam, you know, is only 30
minutes and it could be twohours.
So we had a nice littleconversation before he showed up
.
He showed up no caffeine, readyto go and I told him okay, I
(20:37):
need you to go use the restroom.
He's like, I don't have to go,I need you to go use the
restroom because this exam couldtake up to two hours.
We don't want to get in themiddle of your exam and then you
have to get up and we have tostart over.
So he of course okay, let me gotry.
And of course he did tinkle abit and came back and because he
(20:59):
followed exam so orinstructions so well with the
breathing instructions.
So for some cardiac exam thebreath hold is different, just
depending on the technologies orwhat the radiologist wants.
But the breath hold could be alittle challenging.
A lot of the exams the techwill say taking a breath and
(21:23):
hold it.
Well, for the cardiac exams,for the most optimal image, we
say taking a breath, blow it outand then hold your breath.
So it's a little harder.
So try holding your breath for20 seconds after you've breathed
your air out, so you have noair on reserve in your lungs.
(21:47):
You just breathe that out, andthen you got to try to hold that
for 20 seconds.
It's a little harder, so Icoached him through it.
We, you know, practiced acouple of times prior to getting
started and he did magnificentand his exam was an hour An hour
(22:09):
.
It could have took up to twohours depending on how hard he
was or how hard of a time he washaving with the breath holds or
him moving all around and wehaving to go reposition him, but
he followed instructions to theT and was done in half the time
and was done in half the time.
So that's the importance oflistening to your technologist,
(22:33):
because there's a reason behindthe madness.
So, if you're able to do it,please listen and take heed,
because it could save you thetime and it could save you the
uncomfortability of being onthat hard table.
Now, on the opposite side ofthat, a patient who did not
listen to that same instructionsfor a cardiac exam and not only
(22:56):
did they drink their coffeethat morning, their caffeinated
coffee that morning speed uptheir heart rate.
So that was an issue during theexam.
They didn't follow theinstructions of go use the
restroom prior to getting on thetable and they had to use the
restroom right after I injectedthe contrast.
(23:21):
Now let me explain how thecontrast works.
Works An MRI and this of coursewill vary from facility to
facility, but most contrastagents the hospital facility
will say you cannot re-injectthat patient within 24 hours.
(23:44):
Some radiologists will takeover and say you know, I don't
see enough contrast in.
You can give more contrast andput my name on it.
Or you know they can't getcontrast again until another 24
hours, and that's usually therule of thumb, right?
You cannot re-inject.
Your dosage is based on yourweight.
(24:06):
So how much you weighdetermines the kilograms you're
able to get, or the millilitersthat you're able to get for the
contrast.
Well, after the injection ofthe contrast, contrast goes all
over your body.
So it does not just go to thearea that we're scanning, it
(24:27):
goes all over your body and itgets absorbed and you pee it out
.
Basically, so it's not kept inyour body.
But once you inject you can'tgo backwards, you can't start
over because the contrast isalready there.
(24:48):
So after the injection there isa timing of images.
That has to happen right afterinjection and if you miss that
time you've missed what thedoctor needs to see within the
heart muscle to let them knowwhat he's looking at or what
he's looking for.
To let him know what he'slooking at or what he's looking
(25:11):
for.
So, patient, squeeze the ball.
I have to use the restroom.
I'm like, well, I just injectthe contrast.
Can you help hold out for atleast another 15 minutes so we
can get the most importantimages done?
That way we can give the doctorsomething to look at.
And a lot of doctors, if it'snot a whole exam, they won't
read it at all at.
(25:32):
And a lot of doctors, if it'snot a whole exam, they won't
read it at all.
So he couldn't wait.
He had to get up and go and hehad to reschedule.
So we had already done an houron the table of scanning just
for him to push the button inthe middle of and say, no, I
have to go and have to start allover.
You have to call schedulingagain.
You have to get back on theschedule.
(25:52):
You have to, you know, do yourscreening form again.
All of that over, because he didnot want to listen.
To go, try to use the restroombefore we get you on this table,
because it could take up to twohours.
So it's important.
It's important to listen and,like I said, it's a method to
(26:16):
the madness.
So listen to your technologistsand ask questions, because a
lot of technologists get busyand forget to say hey, go, try
to use the restroom before weget you on this table.
Or make sure you let us know ifyou have any uncomfortable
feeling before we get you on thetable and then, 15 minutes into
(26:38):
it, you need to reposition,messing up the image.
We try to get you ascomfortable as possible right in
the beginning.
That way you don't have to feelthe need or urge to move and
mess up the image.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
Thank you so much for that.
And once again it drawsattention to patients'
responsibilities.
You are responsible and youjust heard her.
You're responsible for calling.
You know when the doctor givesyou a sheet of paper and says
here's a lab, here's an MRIorder, I want you to have an MRI
.
You're responsible for makingsure that your patient
(27:15):
experience is good and you coulddo that by calling the MRI
facility that is going to do theMRI.
Because she just told you thatdoctors a lot of times do not
know that an MRI could take upto two hours.
They don't even know MRI couldtake up to two hours.
They don't even know it couldtake up to an hour.
They're just giving you a sheetand you're following the
doctor's order.
(27:35):
Stop having that white coatsyndrome.
And that white coat syndromecomes in when we go to the
doctor and we say well, thedoctor has white coat and he's
an authority, so he should knowbetter than I should know.
I say this all the time.
Healthcare is no longer truly ahealthcare process.
It's a business process.
(27:57):
There's money attached tocontracts, contracts attached to
time.
So a lot of times, while ourdoctors we love our doctors we
want you to talk to your doctorsand actually have those
conversations.
But we need you to stop havingthat white coat syndrome where
you're like, well, the doctorsaid no, what do you say?
It's your body.
(28:18):
Your doctor doesn't controlyour body.
If you have a question orconcern, raise it with the
doctor.
But do your part in making sureyour patient experience is good
is beautiful by saying now youknow to ask okay, well, let me
go call them and see what I needto do before I have this done,
(28:39):
so that you're not getting thereand then getting frustrated
your patient experience ishorrible.
You're blaming it on MRI people, but it's really not their
fault.
You have the information, nowthat you know, to call your MRI
facility, say what do I need todo?
You also have the informationthat you need to say well, let
me check with my insurancecompany to see what MRI facility
(29:03):
I can go to.
And then, when they tell mewhat MRI facility I can go to,
you're going to then askprayerfully.
You're going to then ask well,do they specialize in whatever
kind of MRI that you want tohave before you go, have it done
.
So we actually already, in lessthan 20 minutes, we've actually
already picked up on two veryvalid points that need to occur
(29:27):
when we go to the facility tohave an MRI done.
I do want to bring up anotherincident that I read about
recently.
She talked about this in one ofher last episodes that she's
done with us.
There was an article in thenews that stated that a wife was
(29:47):
having an MRI done.
The husband was in the waitingroom.
She asked them to go get thehusband.
The husband comes into the roombut when he comes on into the
room he has some metal chains onhim that actually, because they
were metal and because it wasan MRI machine, the MRI machine
was attached to that metal.
(30:08):
That husband lost his lifebecause he was in that room with
jewelry on that he shouldn'thave had on.
Now, did he know he shouldn'thave had it?
I don't know the only person'svery important that you know why
it is that they tell you whenyou have an MRI, not to have
(30:32):
that kind of jewelry on or whatyou should and shouldn't be
wearing.
So, sherry, can you cover thata little bit for us please?
Speaker 2 (30:40):
Of course, of course.
Now, this was a very recentstory, recent story, and so the
initial story, the initial story, was that he did have a
necklace on.
The wife did call him and hewent in there, got stuck to the
(31:03):
magnet and after reading thisinitial story, I said there's no
way, there's no way.
A necklace, there's no way, nowit will pull.
But to get stuck to the magnetto the point of choking you out
(31:38):
and ultimately losing your life,it's no way.
But after stories and thingsare still coming out because,
like I said, this is recent,after a few more stories came
out about it, it wasn't just anormal necklace, okay, it was a
weight training chain.
So a lot of, a lot of peoplewho train weightlifting, train
(32:02):
train, uh, training in the gym,et cetera, um, or ankle weights,
um, it's a chain used forweight training.
So it's a big, thick chain andhe had to have had it wrapped up
in, you know, like a blackcloth, just like the ankle
weights.
It's not just showing metal,it's cloth around the metal or
(32:26):
the sandbag or whatever theweight is, it's something around
it.
So that made more sense and itmakes perfect sense.
Okay, the bigger the metalpiece, the more attracted it is
to the magnet, which is why amagnet an MRI machine can pull a
car can pull a car.
(32:58):
Okay, so we now know that itwas a weight training chain that
was pulled in.
So, although this was anoutpatient MRI facility, this
incident happened in a trailer,which is basically a trailer
that has an MRI machine on it.
So they may have had issueswith one of their magnets that's
inside the facility.
(33:19):
So they paid for a trailer tocome on site to still keep up
with the patient load mode.
Okay, so on the trailer, thetechnologist allowed the husband
to come in to help his wife,and this happened in New Jersey.
(33:44):
Okay, this story is in NewJersey and from what I read, the
husband had been able to helphis wife multiple times before
and initially I had read anarticle said that you know he
had a chain on in a you know inanother exam that she had.
Well, I don't know if he mustnot have gotten as close as he
(34:07):
did this time or what, but whenyou allow patients' family
members into zone three zonethree is just outside of the
room that the scanner is in youhave had to do a screening form
on that patient's family memberas well.
(34:29):
Even though they're not gettingand having the exam, they're
close to the magnet, just likethat patient is, so they're
needing to fill out the MRIscreening form as well.
It is our responsibility astechnologists to ensure that
(34:50):
whomever is in whether it be anurse or a patient's family
member helping out with thatpatient, it is our
responsibility to check, checkand recheck the patients and
their family members and thenurses and the staff that's
going to come into zone four,where the magnet is.
(35:10):
It is our responsibility tomake sure they have nothing that
is metallic on their person andthat can be attracted to the
magnet.
Our responsibility can beattracted to the magnet our
(35:31):
responsibility.
So initially they were sayingthat.
You know there were peoplespeculating that he must not
have listened to thetechnologist.
He just went in there afterhearing his wife call out for
help to help get her off thetable and we actually saw a
video.
So there is a video and I havethat video.
(35:53):
It's a little disturbing.
You can't really make outexactly.
It's not an up-close video.
It's a video of the doorway andyou can see the patient laying
there on the table.
You can see the husband go into assist her to get up off the
(36:14):
table.
You can even see thetechnologist go in after the
patient's family member.
So the technologist goes to oneside of the table, the
patient's family member, thehusband, go on the other side of
the table and he's helping herup.
The technologist is not helping, so the husband is helping her
(36:36):
up.
Well, he has his back to thescanner, and you can see all of
this.
He has his back to the scanner.
Well, as he's trying to pullher up into an upright position,
he gets too close to thescanner, which pulls the chain.
It pulls the chain, pulling himsmack up into the scanner,
(36:59):
pulls him, starts pulling him inthe scanner and at this time,
of course, you can see himstruggling.
You can see the wife trying topull on her husband to get him
off of the scanner and thetechnologist looks like that.
They are lost for words as towhat to do next.
(37:22):
Now, any professional in thisinstance and I'm not throwing
dirt on any technologists wehave a very hard job and there's
a lot of patients who will notlisten to us to save their lives
, but you are the last stop whenit comes to your department.
You are.
(37:43):
I have had people cuss me out.
I have had people threaten me.
I'm coming in there.
No, you're not.
No, you're not Because theydon't understand that you can
actually be seriously injured orlose your life.
And it does not seem that thetechnologist was even trying to
(38:08):
prevent the patient's family orthe husband from coming into the
scan room.
It doesn't seem that theyvetted him to make sure he was
able to go into the MRI room.
None of it seems that way.
Per a video that is out there.
Per a video that is out there.
(38:30):
So the technologist is standingthere and then, of course, they
just cut the video off.
I don't know if the guy, fromwhat I read, the guy passed out
at the scanner but he didn't dieuntil a couple of days later.
I want to say couple of dayslater.
(38:56):
I want to say but the protocol,when someone is in danger
whether you bring a wrongwheelchair in and it's stuck
between the patient, or thepatient is stuck between the
wheelchair and the scanner, orthe nurses, or you are there is
a quench button in the MRIcontrol room that that
technologist could have ran tohit the quench button, it lets
(39:20):
off cryogens in the air.
It demagnetizes the magnet.
It's a process, but it slowlystarts demagnetizing the magnet.
It's thousands of dollars toget that magnet back, ramped up
and performing as it's supposedto, which I know is why a lot of
(39:44):
technologists are scared tohave to hit that button.
But when we're talking aboutlife and death and you're
probably scared you're going tolose your job or whatever, but
you're talking about life anddeath go hit the button.
We can talk about what happened,why it happened later, but go
(40:04):
hit the button to save thisindividual's life.
They didn't do it.
Now, apparently, that patientwas stuck to the magnet and I
want to say they struggled withtrying to get him off of the
magnet for at least 30 minutes,from what I read.
Way too long to be strugglingwith a magnet, a huge magnet
(40:33):
that you're not going to win.
If you've ever looked upYouTube videos on magnets and
them testing different thingslike putting a chair up there or
putting some scissors andwatching the magnet pull it into
the magnet when it's somethinglike a chair, four guys try to
(40:57):
pull a chair off of the magnetand cannot do it.
Four men can't do it.
So for them to try to strugglewith this man I'll even say over
10 minutes is too long Tryingto get him off of the magnet.
(41:19):
It was not happening, so thatman tragically lost his life.
And again there is stillinformation coming out about
that story.
It was unfortunate.
I just don't see how ithappened to the point of I'm not
even going to run and quenchthe magnet.
(41:45):
Now there is a lot of lax.
There is a lot ofcomfortability.
That comes with our profession.
People get in it, theycross-train in it.
There's now MRI schools whereyou don't have to go get a
degree.
The training that is needed isnot there anymore.
(42:11):
Everything is like this.
It's like you said earlier,sandra the hospital, the
healthcare field, is a businessand MRIs are now faster.
They're putting more patientson the schedule and it's almost
being treated like CT and x-ray,where they're in and out, in
(42:31):
and out, in and out, in and out.
And laziness is starting tocreep in with some of the
technologists and they're notdoing their due diligence.
They just ask the patients doyou have any metal on?
No, and a lot of people willforget what they have on their
person.
And if I'm your technologist,you are going to see me almost
(42:53):
pat you down.
If I suspect that there'sanything on your person.
They'll just sit there and kindof look and go no, I don't have
anything.
And I'll say, are you sure, asI'm touching areas where I
(43:20):
suspect you may have something,and they're oh, I have this that
can't go in there.
So it's a lot of patients thatjust don't remember having some,
which is why it's important tobe okay with changing into a
gown or the paper cloth, shortsand shirt that they give you at
some facilities.
You have to be okay withchanging out of that stuff.
(43:40):
I had a woman argue me downabout a sports bra and it not
having a metal.
I had to go get a small metaldetector to let her know that
the clamps on her sports bra wasmetal.
She just argued me no, it'splastic, it's plastic.
It's plastic.
No, ma'am, that needs to comeoff, it's metal.
I had to go get the metaldetector to prove.
(44:01):
She was like oh my gosh, it ismetal.
Now we've wasted 10 minutesgoing back and forth and you
could have just snatched thesports bra off and we could have
this, you know, done.
So it's very important to beprepared to come out of all of
your clothing.
Let your technologist know ofanything that you may have on
(44:22):
your person.
Um, if you're going to help afamily member out, uh, to get
through an exam, and a lot oftimes you just won't be able to
get the MRI, and some patientsare, you know, they really want
the exam to happen that day.
So I've had to have a womanreschedule and she came in
(44:44):
through the ER.
She had hair extensions withthe metal clips all over her
head and she was there to get abrain MRI.
There was no way, no way.
So she had her mom go to thebeauty store to buy the tool
that unclamped all of these hairlittle pieces all throughout
(45:04):
her hair so she could have anMRI.
So she could have an MRI.
It's important that you sharewith your technologist what you
may have on your person beforegoing into zone three.
Speaker 1 (45:17):
So Thank you so much for that and thank you for
clarifying exactly what happened.
You know, when you said 30minutes, you know what you said.
(45:45):
The machine is called quench.
I actually took a really deepbreath because I'm like, within
that 30 minutes, no one thatlisten to the show or that I
speak to on a regular basis thatneed to know that if you're
helping someone that you love inan MRI, you know, take an MRI
or be in the MRI room, just makesure that you're just as down.
(46:07):
You're just as down, you ain'tgot nothing on you the same as
that patient does, becausethat's the last thing we want to
happen is that, as a caregiver,your own health is put in
jeopardy because you're notlistening or you didn't know.
So if you're listening to thisand you have someone in your
family that you're caregivingfor, you know of a caregiver,
(46:29):
please remind them that ifthey're going in to help that
person with an MRI, make surethat they know that it's
important for them to be just asdisrobed as far as jewelry and
hair extensions and bras and allthat other stuff as it is the
patient that they're helping.
Thanks so much for that, Sherry.
And then my last question isthis?
(46:50):
Recently I've been reading a lotabout how MRIs now are doing
full body scanning.
Is that on the rise?
How effective is that?
We're actually catching it?
And they're saying they'redoing this to catch different
health conditions and differenthealth diseases.
Speaker 2 (47:13):
So is there what's behind that story.
So that's relatively new and Ihave seen a lot of celebrities
take advantage of that and, fromwhat I understand, I've been
reading a couple of differentarticles about it and on some of
the facilities that offer wholebody scans and I want to say
(47:35):
that the cost for a typicalwhole body scan is around two
grand.
In seeing if there's any issuesthat you may have, without
(47:56):
being so intrusive, I guess itcan be effective.
In seeing if there, if you havemaybe a tumor somewhere or if
you have cysts somewhere or ifthere's any issues probably
within your spine.
But some of those exams andthey probably go up in cost,
(48:19):
depending on what all the focusis with this whole body scan,
because they are doing a basicscan from head to toe.
It's not detailed but it's abasic scan from head to toe just
to see if there's anythinggoing on within what they're
(48:39):
scanning and to give you say,hey, you need to go now, book an
appointment to see about what'sgoing on with your liver
because there may be an issuethere or you know you have a
disc bulging in your back andthat's probably the pain you're
having, or you know it can giveyou basic information which can
(49:03):
be a good start for a lot ofpeople.
Some people just want to know,you know, might there be any
issues ahead of time?
But a lot of times your bodywill let you know before having
to go get a whole body scan.
If you're paying attention toyour body, your body a lot of
(49:24):
times will let you know.
Now it may not in the instanceof possible cancer sneaking up
and depending on if this basicwhole body scanning also
consists of getting contrast,then you still may not know if
(49:51):
this is just the whole body scanminus the contrast.
Contrast agents is needed forpeople who had surgery or
looking to get surgery abscesses, excuse me, and the doctor is
looking for cancer.
So how the contrast work.
If you have a tumor anywhere inyour body and you have an MRI,
(50:11):
you take before images withoutcontrast and then you go inject
the contrast and the contrastwill be drawn to that tumor.
It lights up very well.
So something that you may havemissed without the contrast is
your basic MRI scan.
(50:31):
You are able to see the tumorvery well with the contrast
agent and, depending on if youknow these whole body scans
consist of adding contrastagents, you may or may not know
still that you know you may havean issue of a tumor, whether it
(50:52):
be benign or malignant, problemor not a problem, but you may.
You may still not know.
So I would suggest getting yourlabs drawn as the most
important.
I would suggest you know for apreventative thing.
I think it's popular now, justbecause you know, everybody's
(51:13):
saying, oh, I can go get mywhole body scanned and see what
you know, what could be wrongwith me.
It's popular in that sense ofyou know being able to do it all
at once.
But it's basic, it's basic.
Speaker 1 (51:27):
So just be aware that you still may not know after
getting this exam done thank youso much for that, and that
certainly makes a lot of sense,and that's why I asked you that
question is because you'rehearing more and more about it.
So you take the fact that it'sa basic scan.
(51:48):
You take the fact that what youjust said about we now have MRI
tests that are not reallylooking at this as a career Not
as a career, but looking at itand saying I have someone's life
in my hands.
They're doing it for money andthat's just what it is.
(52:08):
It's a money thing.
They could care less about you.
I mean, that's just a lot ofwhat's going on right now in
healthcare and we can stop it bybeing educated, empowered and
engaged.
Patients asking those questions, making sure that we're safe
when we go in to take an MRI,making sure that the people hey,
(52:29):
if you say you know what, okay,well, I just need a basic MRI,
so I'm just going to do thiswhole body thing Make sure the
person that you're doing istrained on how to do a whole
body scan.
It's just not, you know, justdoing it just because they need
a paycheck, because it's yourlife.
I don't know about you guys,but I'll tell you what I tell
(52:49):
everybody when the good Lordtouches me on my shoulder and
says Sandra, your place is ready, don't be trying to bring me
back.
Because I'm not trying to comeback.
I'm doing everything I can donow so that, when I leave here,
I'm leaving here with a legacyand I'm leaving here by
providing information that otherpeople would know about.
So, yeah, no, I'm not trying tocome back 10, 20, 30 years from
(53:11):
now.
Speaker 2 (53:11):
I'm not trying to do all that which is why I do what
I do now.
Speaker 1 (53:15):
So, without further ado, I'm going to go ahead and
close this session up, but I dowant to remind everyone be kind
always.
It doesn't cost a penny for youto be kind.
You never know what the personon the other end of your
conversation that you're talkingto or dealing with you never
(53:36):
know what they might be goingand you being kind might be just
that touch and just that breakthat they need to.
Either you know one say okay,well, yeah, I am kind of rude to
this person and I'm not surewhy or for them to say you know
what, yeah, this is my day.
I'm going to continue to makemy day by pushing it and paying
(53:58):
it forward.
As I tell everyone, each one,reach one, teach one.
I don't care what it is, if youknow it, teach it and reach out
to others so that they canteach it to others.
So, without further ado I keepsaying without further ado.
This is my second time sayingthis, but I do want to remind
(54:19):
everyone of the extraordinaryevent that is coming up on
October 25th in Chicago Illinois.
October 25th in ChicagoIllinois, we have 10 speakers
that will be speaking ondifferent unseen and unheard of
health disease conditions thatare in our community that we
(54:40):
know very little or nothingabout.
The little yellow school busthat comes down the street is
not stopping in our communitiesto let us know about these
diseases.
So, chalms, many Helps.
Along with this illustriousevent, panelists and speakers
will be actually coming to sharesome information.
(55:00):
If you'd like information, moreinformation about this event,
please do reach out to sandra atchomsfoundationcom that's
C-H-L-M-S foundationcom and alsokeep your eye out on our flyers
that we will be passing out inour post.
That will be not passing outwill be we'd be posting up on
(55:24):
social media.
Thanks everyone, so much forlistening and please, please,
please, remember to be kindalways.
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