Do you get MRI results sooner if they see something seriously wrong with you? I.E if they don't get back to you within a week can you assume nothing major was found?

You can’t assume anything. Call the doctor that requested the MRI and ask if they have the results yet. It should not take a week.

Yeah, call them, not us.
We, or anybody else that’s not your doctor, can’t possibly give you an answer that is going to rid you of anxiety.
The medical specialist knows best.
For future tests, whatever they may be, ask beforehand what the expected waiting period is, in both good or bad result scenarios.

I scheduled my follow-up when I had the doctor set-up the MRI. It was 9 days after the MRI I think.

A doctor taking too long does not make you in the clear.

I had a stress test last year that seemd to go very well (the nurses said I had maintained a very high level of activity for far longer than most people). And when I did not hear back for over a week, I thought there would be nothing.

Ten days after the test my daoctor caled to say there “had been anomalies” and wanted me to have an angiogram. I ended up with two stents!

Sometimes things slip by. It might not even be him, there is a good chance that it is an administrative error. A quick call to the doctors office will clear it up.

Not sure whether you are with a doctor in private practice or with a clinic/hospital but mine has a program called mychart that is on line. Can make appointments, ask questions, see test results when posted. They usually send out a robotext message telling me something needs my attention.

Thanks everyone for the great comments/suggestions! I called the Dr.‘s office as suggested and asked if they had the results. They called me back a few minutes ago with the results. Feeling very blessed and lucky. All is well.

That’s great news!
Welcome to Fluther!

I’d say that is a safe bet.
Years ago I had a biopsy done on a mole or other thing and never heard from the doctor’s office other than the bill, so I assumed I was OK.
Glad you’re OK.

Don’t assume. You would think they would call and move up your appointment if something is wrong, but doctors have things slip through the cracks.

However, I will say that what one person thinks is urgent to know a doctor might feel differently. I was surprised to find out that they say a new leak in a valve in my heart after my last echo. I thought for sure everything was status quo since I wasn’t seen until two weeks later. I’m not bothered by it, but if I had cancelled, would they have let me know there was an anomaly? I really don’t know. I wouldn’t bet money on it.

My cholesterol was 330 and they never called me. They told me that’s what a follow up appointment is for. I think that’s negligence. I didn’t have an appointment to follow up! Still, that’s not the point. I think they should have informed me. Certainly to discuss it it’s reasinable to make an appointment. If everything is normal I don’t want to pay for a follow up appointment that’s ridiculous to me, and unnecessary, and if it’s a waste of money.

Anyway, my advice is, if your doctor only calls if something is wrong (I know that’s not the case for this Q) never trust it! Get an account with the lab they use and look at results yourself for blood tests and cultures. Some tests, like a stress test, you can’t get info online, but many diagnostic tests you can. I use Quest and their app/online is great. It tells you what the test is for, it maps on a graph your results over time. It’s very useful.

@JLeslie That’s odd. When my test results are posted on my online medical, my doc always notes ‘all fine’ or issues. Did they not post yours or mail results? Thats way higher than mine!

^^I’m not talking about my doctor posting results, I’m talking about me looking up the results on the lab app/website.

In the case of the 330 cholesterol, I told the doctor the next time I saw her, and she said that’s why we do follow up appointments, because things fall through the cracks, because we are so busy here. Mind you she NEVER gave me the result, I told her. Then, she wrote me blood work that I requested and asked if I wanted to set up an appointment in two months. I asked why two months, and she said because that’s when Medicare will pay, every two months. That annoyed me ten different ways. First, if I go to the lab tomorrow, I find it unacceptable to wait two months for my results, and you can be sure my cholesterol did not drop 130 points to normal level, plus I would want to know a particular test was normal that we were testing. Plus, the indication was Medicare will pay every two months, so we will have you come in every two months. Chaching $$$. I pointed out I am not a Medicare patient.

I had one doctor who I used to go to their patient portal, I don’t remember her posting notes, but maybe my memory is bad. If I check through the Quest app it all gets compiled together no matter what doctor. If my endocrinologist checks my red blood cell count, and then my cardiologist does it a month later, I see all of it in one place.

Doesn’t matter anyway. A doctor is not supposed to rely on a patient logging into a website if something needs to be addressed. Not everyone uses the Internet.