February 2014 - Actual MRI scans of my head

An MRI scan, but at what cost? Well some research I've been doing suggests that an MRI scanner alone can cost up to £2million, that's before it is fitted in the hospital costing many hundreds of thousands of pounds more.

I've had 3 MRI scans now, all very necessary in my opinion! But you do go into these things without a real idea of what you are about to cost our beloved NHS in terms of treatment costs. In the research I have been doing, I haven't managed to find an actual cost that the NHS quotes for the cost of an MRI scan, but of course the scan itself is only the beginning. You will have seen at least a GP and a consultant beforehand and then there are the specialist people needed to perform and analyse the results of the scan, and another trip or two to see the consultant again. All of which adds up the cost - the cost will vary of course depending which part of the country you're from.

Looking at various prices published on private health sites, MRI brain scans seem to cost anywhere between £300 and £700 and even up to £1,000. And as I said, that is just for the scan, by the time you factor in the cost of the specialist humans as well, you are probably talking another few hundred pounds on top. I'm speculating of course, but if you said anywhere between £1,000-£2,000 per MRI that may be reasonable. Now in my lifetime I've been lucky to always be employed, so I have probably paid my dues in 'National Insurance', but even so that is a lot of money to cost in 3 MRI scans. Add on top of that my surgery (from a top neurosurgeon), anaesthetists, couple of hours in theatre, 2 five day hospital stays, drugs, blood tests etc.etc. And I'm sure my illness cost is only a fraction of other less fortunate/less healthy people. Anyway, as I said, probably all a bit speculative, but it does make you think. You take the NHS for granted a bit until you need it, then when you do need it, the last thing on your mind is how much you're about to cost them.

So what of my own scans? Well thanks to the lovely people at the QA Hospital in Portsmouth (Partha and Martin, you know who you are), I have been provided with some copies of my very own scans. The main reason was to prove that I do indeed have a brain in my head....but seriously I thought it would be fun to show some before and after scans of me with and without tumour. One word of caution, I am obviously not a radiologist or a Consultant Endocrinologist, so I think/hope what I am highlighting is indeed my (ex)tumour....it is how I remember it when I was shown it back on the 18th May 2013. "A peanut shell sized tumour about 3cm long" was how I think it was described. The red box I have drawn around the first scan is the tumour, the second scan was taken last month....

Now, I'm not expert, but what a wicked pair of images, seriously impressive. No wonder these machines cost so much money. The next image is designed to show you nothing specifically, other than what a total alien I look like :-)

So there you have it, proof positive that I don't have a tumour any more. Which is the best possible news a man can have. Over and out....