‘I was treating it like a spa day’: Houston woman goes to Prenuvo. Now she has an appointment to get a vital organ removed
Sarah Blackburn wanted peace of mind. Instead, she got an appointment to have her spleen removed.
In a now-viral TikTok, Blackburn recounts how she and her husband booked full-body MRIs at Prenuvo, a medical imaging company known for its early detection scans.
A full-body MRI reveals an unpleasant surprise
“We scheduled to have them done in Dallas, which is about four hours away from us in Houston, and we were gonna make a trip out of it and we were so excited,” she said. But after some hesitation (“maybe we don’t really wanna know”), they canceled.
Eight months later, she finally went through with it at the new Houston location. “I was treating it like a spa day. I was so excited and like taking pictures in my little scrubs,” she said, raving about the experience. “Everything at Prenuvo was great. I got to watch Netflix, and the waiting room was nice and everything was super pretty and clean.”
She was also expecting a clean bill of health. Instead, she got a late-night results email that sent her into a spiral.
The shocking diagnosis
Blackburn received her results four days later at 8:30pm. “I had nobody to call,” she said. Her follow-up with a nurse practitioner was scheduled within 24 to 48 hours, but in the meantime, she panicked. “I just went into a full-blown panic attack when I got my results and ended up in the emergency room because I needed a doctor to tell me what this meant.”
The report? “One in three mortality rate,” she recalled. “Like OK, thank you so much.”
Prenuvo had found an aneurysm on her splenic artery, a discovery that quickly escalated after further testing. “I got a CT scan. There are actually two aneurysms inside of my splenic artery.” Yikes. The solution? “Now I am getting my spleen removed.”
The internet reacts
Commenters had a lot to say about Blackburn’s experience. Some shared how Prenuvo scans helped ease their own health anxieties. “I got it done and I have health anxiety and they didn't find anything and it really helped my anxiety going forward,” one user wrote, to which Blackburn responded with another video to soothe the qualms of hypochondriacs. Others, however, were more concerned with the price tag. “I wish insurance covered this every 10 years as part of preventative medicine,” another commented.
Her story even inspired others to book their own scans. One woman, who appeared to be a nurse, shared, “I just went today for a Prenuvo scan and the other guy waiting in his room said he was there because a girl on TikTok found an aneurysm and I said THAT'S WHY I'M HERE. You are sending us all!” Blackburn responded, “Wait this is the coolest thing I’ve ever heard. Following you now so you can update me on your results!” Keep us posted, too.
Another user shared her heartbreaking experience: “My brother-in-law just died of a splenic artery aneurysm. He was 39 and extremely healthy. You are so so lucky.” Blackburn expressed her condolences and said, “I feel very fortunate that I can get it taken care of & you sharing this is such a big reminder of that.” If this isn’t a wakeup call to prioritize your health, nothing else is.
How much does a Prenuvo scan cost?
A full-body scan is about $2,500. Just the torso is about half that. And a head and torso scan is $1,800. It can detect aneurysms, cysts, hematomas, neurological disorders such as multiple sclerosis and dementia, metabolic disorders such as fatty liver, degenerative spines, and solid tumors as early as stage 1. Overall, it can detect 500 conditions.
Prenuvo scans are not covered by insurance, per Verywell Health. As they note:
Many radiologists have been wary of full-body imaging for decades. Major medical organizations, including the American College of Preventive Medicine, American College of Radiology, and Food and Drug Administration, say there’s limited evidence that these preventive screenings are cost-effective or beneficial for healthy people. There are also no insurance companies that cover the service through companies like Prenuvo.
“I am truthfully doubtful of whole-body screening, for example, to detect a hernia. If the hernia is not creating any issue, I’m not sure detecting it is necessarily helpful. And many times, it’s unclear that anything needs to be done and it creates unnecessary anxiety in some patients,” Zhen Jane Wang, MD, a radiologist at the University of California San Francisco, told Verywell.
Should you get a Prenuvo scan?
Prenuvo offers full-body MRIs designed to detect early signs of cancer, aneurysms, and other potentially life-threatening conditions. But as Blackburn’s story highlights, the psychological impact of these results can be intense—especially for those prone to anxiety.
“I have a lot of friends ask me if I regret it,” Blackburn said. I mean, she’s having a lifesaving surgery soon so that should answer that question.
Would she recommend it? “I was just a normal anxious girlie before this, and now I’m a normal anxious girlie with debilitating health anxiety that I’m trying to overcome.”
Blackburn did not respond to the Daily Dot for comment, but she did generously share a Prenuvo discount link in her bio for those brave enough to uncover the unknown.
@sarblackburn Story time on my Prenuvo experience! #prenuvo #houstontx #houston #splenicarteryaneurysm #preventativehealth #prenuvoscan ♬ original sound - Sarah Blackburn
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