Open MRI of the Finger Lakes

Michael Hoffman

Very relaxing

Jasmine Person

Worst MRI experience ever. The "Open" MRI is useless for any spinal cord test. I have had this done in a normal MRI at the hospital before, and the experience was much better. I went here because I suffer claustrophobia. I thought the openness would benefit me. Not so. The technician, unlike at the hospital, did not talk me through each 2-3 minute session, which helps with knowing where I'm at, time wise, and also to ask me how I'm holding up. Secondly, they don't have a panic button, which ended up being quite needed since at the end of the test, he left me locked in that machine while he went out to do whatever he was doing. At the hospital they slide you into the open as soon as the test is done, and if we have to wait for them to verify, we wait in the open. Here, he left me locked into that coffin. I started panicking from the closeness of the top part of this machine. It is MUCH closer to the face than the regular ones. I could barely breathe, and it was impossible to remove myself as there is no space to move. I was calling out and calling out, banging on the top of the unit, I can't tell how long until the technician came back in to let me out, which felt like forever. The "OPEN" part of this machine is not even visible when one is locked in for this kind of test. I am writing this review the day after the procedure, and I am still having heart palpitations from the thought of it. In the end, I shall never return here. Perhaps this machine is better for other tests, but it certainly is not for anything that involves the core of the body. The front desk staff is nice. The waiting room is super nice; but let's face it, the test itself is what matters, and this one was awful. I can't believe this man left me in there, knowing full well that I was claustrophobic, and left me alone in the room (and worse in that suffocating contraption). I could have had a heart attack and he would never know this. At the hospital there are always two people, even when we are out in the open - just in case... never again... If I should need another MRI, back to Geneva Hospital I shall go.