heather: HIDA Scan Accommodations?
I have to have a HIDA scan done. I have severe anxiety and found out that they normally don’t allow your spouse to go in with you. I have a diagnosed anxiety disorder and a phobia of needles to the point where I had to be restrained when given a blood test/IV when I visited the ER. Will that give me a necessary excuse to have my husband come back with me?
I’ve never had my phobia diagnosed, but I have been diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder. The other thing is, they want to keep me in a room on my back for four hours lying perfectly still, which will cause me to go insane; I need my husband around to help curb my potential to bolt during a test.
Answers and Views:
Answer by Achelios
what you might want to ask is if your husband can be present while they put in the radioactive tracer… this is the point where they will be injecting you
then, perhaps, if they want him out of the room for the rest of the test, it would be okay
I would get your doctor (the one who is order the HIDA scan) to ask for your husband to be present for the injection of the radioactive tracer as a reasonable accommodation for phobia of needles
if this is not the doctor who diagnosed the phobia, then you may have to go back to the doctor who diagnosed it in order to get a letter
EDIT TO ADD: they are not required to allow your husband to be there for the testing…. this is simply health rules… sorta like they don’t have to allow my Service Dog in a test area
You can ask, but they are not required
because of how still you have to be during that test… they might not even want you talking to anyone.. and the urge to talk to someone standing there is reason enough to say this is not a reasonable accommodation
You can also ask about the accommodation to have him with you when injected without a doctor’s explanation, but they may not take it as seriously as they will with a doctor letter. Ask your doctor (the one ordering the test) to write a letter explaining your history & diagnosis of GAD
you also need to ask the doctor…. what, if any, anxiety medication you can take to help you get through that test
I completely understand… I have GAD with panic attacks…. I have serious problems with MRI testing… I have to go into an MRI at least 1/2 sedated
Leave a Reply