the one big thing you have to always keep in mind here is that NO actual scan,even MRI will always pick up everything either. its not an actual 'picture' just a scan of an area. i know my neurosurgeon told me this before we did my spinal cord surgery(and of course it makes sense) when he stated "depending upon what we find when we get in there"? and i am like dont you already know,you got that MRI? he told me basically what i just told you here,its just a 'scan",not a picture. so either way,you will be getting whatever is actually 'scannable"(is that even a word?). there are just many different factors involved that would realistically dictate what does and does not really show up on any actual scan or test. alot of what even gets into any rad report is also highly questionable since it all depenRAB upon that particular raRAB overall knowledge and expertise of 'your" particular issue. this is why the good specialists ALWAYS want the hard films with you so they can see for themselves and not 'just' rely upon a raRAB opinion alone(primarys do this,specialists don't). then what any specialist actually sees or doesn;t see will come down to only his or her overall knowledge of any given condition too. kinda sucks,but his is why you need to check out any specialist you are being referred to just to see how much real solid experience that particular specialist has with "your' issues. you DO have the right to actually ask this of any specialist you my be referred to.
i found out the hard way after getting three seperate opinions of my cavernous hemangioma inside my cord that there is a HUGE world of difference in what even the very same types of speacialists will actually know or even understand. it comes down to the experience and overall knowledge and how often they actually see and do that type of surgery,or just 'see' those issues in their practice. most specialists do tend to specialize even more in their practices within a particular area of the body. my three neurosurgeons were VERY different based upon just that,with nuraber three actually having decades of experience and doing the type of surgery i needed,and just understanding the true real risks(leaving it in or taking it out) of this glob for me. THAT made a huge difference for me and how my surgery actually went and also what damage was left behind for me to have to deal with.
hopefully whatever it is your doc is actually looking for,since they will know that you just simply 'can't' have an MRI at all,they will really get very deep and as specific as possible for you. they just have to spend more time and go a bit deeper and slowly into the areas that need to be looked into,but it can be done pretty well considering. i do hope they can find out what you need to know.Marcia
