Need an MRI? Go to the zoo!

Jstas

I heard this on the radio yesterday and someone forwarded it to me today in email. Thought I'd share 'cause I'm a sharer.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,479782,00.html

275-Pound Woman Says Hospital Told Her to Use Zoo MRI

When a 5-foot, 275-pound woman found out she had a tumor on her spine, she was told by her local hospital to go the zoo to have a MRI because a regular MRI machine could not hold her weight, MyFOXKC.com reported.

Carolyn Ragan told the television station she discovered the tumor two years ago and, after the hospital told her she could not use their MRI machine, a medical assistant said he would help her find a solution.

“So he suggested the Kansas City Zoo,” Ragan said. “I thought, I know I’m big, but I’m not as big as an elephant. And my husband got mad.”

The University of Kansas Hospital would not comment on Ragan’s claim, but said its MRI department does not know of any animal MRI in the Kansas City area that would scan a human.

Ragan’s problem was two-fold: She was too heavy for the table and too wide to slide through the opening.

Medical Imaging in Kansas City North, which has both closed and open MRI machines can typically hold up to 440 pounds, but sometimes a person who weighs less can still be out of luck, according to an MRI technician.

“It depends on how they are built a lot of times and what part of their body we’re scanning,” said technician Sarah Abbott of Medical Imaging. “(The machine) can only be so open before the magnetic field dissipates into the room.”

Ragan, who ended up having two surgeries and some paralysis, said she finally found an open MRI machine that held her weight, but it was embarrassing and frustrating.

“They should have machines that fit most everybody,” she said.

The thing I found funny about it was the last line. While 275 pounds isn't outside the weight range of what a hospital might see a person weighing, when 275 pounds is on a frame barely 5 feet tall, that's some girth and well outside the "normal" range. That would qualify her as not "most everybody". To put it in perspective, a guy a full foot taller and weighing in at 275 pounds is probably only about 80-85 pounds overweight. A woman only 5 feet tall and pushing the scales at 275 pounds is probably 160 pounds over weight. That is a big difference. It's not a slam at overweight people either.

And I'm not trying to be insensitive. The medical assistant that made the insensitive comment was out of line but the simple fact remains that there is a statistical percentage of people who will be outside that range. If you are pushing 300 pounds of you on a 5 foot tall frame, you are a bit on the downside of the curve. The thing about statistics and probability is that everyone is a number and sometimes your number just isn't the right one. Doesn't excuse other people from being mean but on the same side of that coin, reality can be harsh.

CaligulaPolk

Jstas wrote: »

I heard this on the radio yesterday and someone forwarded it to me today in email. Thought I'd share 'cause I'm a sharer.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,479782,00.html



The thing I found funny about it was the last line. While 275 pounds isn't outside the weight range of what a hospital might see a person weighing, when 275 pounds is on a frame barely 5 feet tall, that's some girth and well outside the "normal" range. That would qualify her as not "most everybody". To put it in perspective, a guy a full foot taller and weighing in at 275 pounds is probably only about 80-85 pounds overweight. A woman only 5 feet tall and pushing the scales at 275 pounds is probably 160 pounds over weight. That is a big difference. It's not a slam at overweight people either.

And I'm not trying to be insensitive. The medical assistant that made the insensitive comment was out of line but the simple fact remains that there is a statistical percentage of people who will be outside that range. If you are pushing 300 pounds of you on a 5 foot tall frame, you are a bit on the downside of the curve. The thing about statistics and probability is that everyone is a number and sometimes your number just isn't the right one. Doesn't excuse other people from being mean but on the same side of that coin, reality can be harsh.

eligible for Biggest loser on NBC

bobman1235

I love that the husband got mad. Your wife is MORBIDLY obese, and doesn't fit on the machine. Whose fault is that? You'd think being so "embarrassed and frustrated" would push her to, I dunno, reduce her gravitational field by a bit.

Stop eating, don't get mad at the world for not accommodating you. It's a free country, but if you wanna be fat you gotta deal with the consequences.

Ron-P

Well said Bob. I just love how our society is so bent on blaming others and not taking responsibility for one's own actions. It's pathetic.

She's fat because she wants to be, no one's fault but her own, 100%.

Face

That's fantastic!

nooshinjohn

lol.
hahahaha!
hehehehehehe!
I love this place, honesty for free and hold the PC B.S.

Pauly

I heard it on Bubba yesterday as well.... Good Stuff


Pauly

Kex

Holy cow (pun...)! This is hard to believe, but she is neither the first nor the biggest:

Fat Lady Sent to Zoo for MRI
May 31, 2005

Maybe it's time to think about new dietary choices: A woman, too fat to fit into conventional MRI equipment was referred to a local zoo.

The New York Post reported that New York's Jennifer Walters, who tips the scale at a whopping 407 pounds, was told by her doctor to seek treatment at the Bronx zoo after she proved too enormous to fit into a human-sized medical scanner. Humilated by the suggestion, she contacted the newspaper to complain, which, ironically, just made headlines.

The zoo, however, told the paper it has no such elephant-sized MRI machines on site.

http://www.aversion.com/news/news_article.cfm?news_id=4413

The funny thing is, apparently Jennifer Walters is also the name of the She Hulk!

http://www.marvel.com/universe/She-Hulk

... cousin of Bruce Banner, ... shot and seriously wounded ... on a day when her cousin was in town. Bruce gave her a blood transfusion, as no other donors of her blood type were available; the radioactive blood mutated Jennifer as it had her cousin, transforming her into the She-Hulk.

The she hulk is probably a lot fitter and a lot slimmer than the New York version of J. Walters!

bruss

Yeah i heard this on stern yesterday.. Classic

avelanchefan

While this is an abnormal situation it is not the first time I have seen this. While I think 275 is a little on the low side for refusing to do an MRI. Our machines are rated for 350 pounds. Anything over that and they have to go to the Tucson Zoo for a CAT scan or MRI.

Jstas

avelanchefan wrote: »

While this is an abnormal situation it is not the first time I have seen this. While I think 275 is a little on the low side for refusing to do an MRI. Our machines are rated for 350 pounds. Anything over that and they have to go to the Tucson Zoo for a CAT scan or MRI.

She's 5 feet tall and 275 pounds. Weight isn't the issue, girth is. She's 5 feet by 5 feet.

John30_30

Don't be goin' up in tha tower. Yez are elliephants is why!

Kex

Jstas wrote: »

... Weight isn't the issue, girth is. She's 5 feet by 5 feet.

You're too funny sometimes, dude!

obieone

There was an episode of 'House' that dealt with this scenario. Pretty funny. Until the end.