Lift Off!

Anyone fromLiverpool remember the lifts in George Henry Lee's where you could see all the workings from the stairs going round the back? It used to scare me as a child.

I have an irrational fear of glass lifts,and it became even more irrational when we went on our first cruise last summer. When we got into a glass lift that shot up the outside of the ship, everyone was ooing and aahing at the view while I was standing with my eyes shut facing the solid wall. What made it even more irrational was that when we got to our cabin on deck 9, a long way up, I was quite happy to be on the balcony and lean over looking at the same view that I had avoided in the lift. Analyse that!

I saw that too GK he's a lovely little chap. Such a good idea to prepare him in that way.
I'm not bothered by lifts and it's not the claustrophobia of a scanner that would bother me. It's that I can't bear the thought of laying completely flat for 40+mins. I could lay still but not flat on my back.

Grannyknot Oh that poor little boy. When I see things like that it makes me ashamed when I whine about nothing. My son in law, although a lovely big strapping lad, suffers with his nerves poor chap, so I can understand why he reached for the panic button.

I love the glass lift in my building, it's glass all round.

Katy I think it must be worse in those MRI tunnels if you're a large(r) person. I must admit all the information they give you, almost makes it worse "You're going to be in there for 30 - 40 minutes". "We will be strapping you in". And - "Here's the panic button!".

I was flicking through TV channels this morning, I think it may have been an item on the news, and the sweetest little boy was going through "play training" for his coming MRI with a helper and using a little toy MRI scanner that he could control. His openness and natural curiosity about it all was a joy to behold. Poor little thing, he was due for a brain scan. So innocent and adorable.

If lifts had glass floors, I'd never get in one. It's bad enough as it is; I use them but don't relax while they're moving.

I worked on the 10th floor of a building for about 15 years and never used the lifts after being stuck in one some years ago. Everyone thought i was rather odd but I was a lot fitter than most at the time. On visits to London, I won't use the tube unless absolutely necessary. Last time we went we walked everywhere and saw much more. Well done Grannyknot. My strapping 6ft 3in son-in-law made them stop the scanner when he had to have one.

My ex and his pal decided to jump up and down in the lift going to my mum's flat resulting in it breaking down. I avoid lifts whenever possible; not because of that but because I hate feeling trapped. Grannyknot; I could probably go into a scanner even though I get claustrophobic but I'm sure I'd need the loo after 15 minutes or so .

Famous of course, if it had been a farmhouse there would not have been a lift!

Several years ago, my DH was trapped in a lift on a housing estate where the tower blocks were condemned due to being built in the same way as a farmhouse collapse.
He was on a fact finding mission with Local Authority officials. One said not to worry there was an escape hatch! Cost cutting during the build had meant no hatch! Fortunately, a security guard heard their shouts and they were released.
It took him years to go back into a lift. He's ok with them now, so you may eventually get better.x

DeeTales I can only share my recent experience - I was recently referred for an MRI (--I don't think I am ill-- I am not ill but the doctors are interested in monitoring the "benign lesions" on my liver that they think is probably a legacy from taking the contraceptive pill in the 1970s. But as you say, that's another story. And thanks for nothing, The Pill.

So, happy happy I skip off to the MRI appointment, only to discover once I am there that it is the "tunnel" variety (for some reason I thought it was going to be a "doughnut" and my head would stick out). So I panicked a bit because I don't like small spaces. I panicked even more when they told me that I would be in there for "up to 40 minutes".

So I said to the lovely staff "Give me a minute to consider please". In that minute I told myself that lots of people have to do a lot worse than this, basically told myself to "get a grip" "it's not as if you're going underground in a gold mine" etc. etc. Then I tell myself "Flick that calm switch on".

Up I hopped on to the table, didn't panic when they strapped me in, had a momentary panic about 20 minutes in when I need to cough and had to fight an urge to sit up (but I just bit really hard on the tip of my tongue which distracted me). Long story short, when I came out, the staff were swooning all over me, telling me what a great patient I was. I told them about the "calm switch" and I could see they thought I was a little bit mad .

Can you find a "calm switch"?