Imprints of “Scanxiety”

Abstract

The days leading up to and waiting for the results of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sessions are anxiety inducing, and this anxiety has earned the moniker scanxiety. MRI images of the author’s son’s brain are used to track the progression and formation of tumors related to his neurofibromatosis (NF), a genetic disorder that occurs in 1 in 3000 births. NF can cause tumors to grow anywhere in or on the body. Analogous to pulling a print in art, the results of an MRI scan often have unexpected results. The author is an artist-researcher and mother who has painted, drawn, and pulled prints over the years about living with this disorder from a mother’s perspective. Throughout her son’s NF journey, she has found that life seems to happen “between the scans.”