Posts by cosmicscout403

They can also perform a stress scintigraphy to monitor how your heart responds under exertion. It’s essentially the same procedure, except they have you running on a treadmill. They hook you up to a Mayo Clinic monitor and you run for up to 20 minutes—unless you hit your limit or any irregularities pop up on the readout. Beyond the treadmill approach, there is also pharmacological stress testing, though I believe that's used much less frequently.

So, that means it stays valid until the end of January 2010.

I completely agree with this last point.

Contrast isn't typically necessary, but even if it is, you won't have any issues. Since MRI contrast agents don't contain iodine, there's no risk of an allergic reaction for you.

It’s true that patients have the legal right to refuse an exam by students or trainees. But you have to wonder: isn't it better for them to learn on the job now, while they're still in school, rather than having you visit their clinic once they've graduated and realized they have to teach themselves everything from scratch?

I’ve never undergone spinal anesthesia myself, though my father had it done just last month, and I picked up some basics during my studies.
The process starts with two small injections of local anesthetic at the puncture site to numb the area. From there, they needle between the L3-L4 or L4-L5 lumbar vertebrae to reach the spinal canal and administer the actual anesthesia. You stay fully awake throughout the procedure, but you won't feel a thing from the waist down. Afterward, you’re required to lie flat in bed for 24 hours to avoid any post-anesthesia nausea. The only slightly unsettling part is the total lack of sensation; when they lift your leg, it doesn't even feel like yours—it feels like someone else's limb. That sensation lingers until the anesthesia wears off, usually after about two or three hours.