At present I am recovering from a surgical procedure on my lower back and for the first time in six weeks I can actually use a laptop which is great as I am currently marketing my new book, Voices from a Blue Box “Tales of a Black Country Copper. I am a retired police officer and for most of my active life I played and enjoyed many sports, rugby being my particular game.

For about the last twenty years I have had issues regarding claustrophobia, a problem that I had managed to live with and hide from the majority of my peers throughout a successful working career.

I also have an occupation related history of lower back problems; in January 2000 I endured a double laminectomy/fusion procedure at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Birmingham. Needless to say prior to this major operation I had to endure thirty minutes in an MRI scanner. On the dreaded day, I showed no fear, to quote a popular car bumper slogan of the time, allowing my eighteen stone, stocky frame to be crammed into a tiny restrictive tube, so restrictive in fact that I had to hold my arms above my head, like a ballet dancer, to fit into the contraption. Keeping my eyes tight shut I kept telling myself over and over again, like a mantra, must get through this, I will benefit in the long run, I must get through this, I will benefit in the long run, I must get through this, I will benefit in the long run! Sympathising with sardines, I was totally oblivious to whatever pearls of wisdom the technician was saying to me. My wife was sitting only feet away but psychologically, I couldn’t see or hear her, because of the racket this incredibly clever machine was making as it loudly clicked and whirred away.

Then it happened, about twenty minutes into my ordeal I felt the urge to fidget! An irresistible urge to shift my bulk, just ever so slightly mind. In a temporary lapse of severe concentration I made a huge error, I opened my eyes! I saw the top of the tube, about two inches above my head and thought immediately of coffin lids. I instantly felt nauseous, my throat was dry, the palms of my hands felt warm and clammy and my heart was beating rapidly. I felt like jumping out of the scanner there and then, remembering the last time I felt like this, when I’d been trapped between floors in a small lift with a large group of colleagues and I’d forced the sliding doors apart to crawl out. This time however, I thought of the enormous cost of repairing a damaged MRI scanner and managed somehow to clamp my eyes tight shut, returning to my mental mantra, hurriedly telling myself it was all downhill from here.

So, when I realised that I would have to face a similar ordeal I was reminded of the awful memory scarring torment of eleven years ago. It was with dread that I attended Heath Lodge, whose staff are both professional and reassuring. Indeed their Dr Beale rang me a few days before my visit to conduct a pre-brief of what I should expect during my visit, which I found tremendously helpful as it gave me the opportunity to inform them of my previous MRI experience. I was to be scanned in their state-of-the-art doughnut scanner, which has thankfully replaced the torturous metal cylinders of old. I lay on its stretcher like cradle confidently as the helpful technician slowly eased me through the roomy air-conditioned centre of the circular machine. The technician was about to start the scan as I distressingly began to experience my tell tale claustrophobic symptoms yet again. Uncomfortably and apologetically I explained to her that I suffered from this humiliating condition. She refreshingly understood my plight and assured me that the clinic had successfully dealt with numerous fellow suffers and that all would be well. The sympathetic Dr Beale prepared an oral medicinal relaxant and within minutes I was fully relaxed and ready to try again. The scanner seemed much quieter than the one I previously experienced and it took around ten appreciatively uneventful minutes for my examination to be completed. After another ten minutes the effects of the medication had fully worn off and Dr Beale issued me with copies of my scan to take to the consultant, which patently identified the latest herniation problem.

I’m glad that my consultant referred me to Heath Lodge. Dr Beale and his staff were very professional and reassuring throughout my brief visit and I would like to thank them again for their hospitality and would of course recommend the clinic to anyone who has any anxieties in regard to an MRI procedure. Thank you Heath Lodge.

Mr B.C. by e-mail