swelling and pressure on left side of head??

Hello everyone, 329 year old female here and no stranger to headaches but I am looking for some input.. For the last 3 months I have been having swelling on the left side of my face, neck and head. It started with shooting sharp pains on the left side of my head that lasted for 8 days, on the 5th day of that stretch is when the swelling came. Both the neurologist and ENT seem to think its muscular but I am not sure I buy that because it has been so long. It really has not been hurting much but a few days ago I started getting slight pains on the side of my neck and then a pressure feeling on the left side of my head only and sometimes near the temple in that same side. The pressure does not hurt just feels strange, 2 days ago I started getting pains here and there, neck, sometimes face, back of head and the whole left side, just here and there and its not major pain just bothers me. It does seem to be getting worse however. I went in for a brain MRI today without contrast, question number one is, is a brain MRI still good without the contrast? My doc also put orders for an MRA however my insurance said they would not allow that scan to be done and its to much money for me to pay for it, they will not work anything out and the money needs to be paid before they even do the scan. Anyway, I had an MRI done of my brain late 2009, question 2 is do things change so fast? I went to have the MRI done today but it was not a open machine and I for halfway through and had to stop, I am kicking myself for this because I only had 10 more minutes to go. Question 3 is they have some pictures for the first 10 minutes, will someone look at them or do they just throw them away since the test was not complete??? I have to ask this next question, for those of you who have had MRIS do you notice that the part and the parts around the area that is being scanned heats up?? I have had this happen many times and it freaks me out. I have clips from getting my gallbladder out and it gets hot there too and it hurts in that area for 2 days after, they say the clips are fine but I am not so sure about that. I have an appointment for another MRI at a place that has an open machine and I know I will be fine for that one but its not until 2 days from now, on Friday.. I am worried about whats going on with me and I dont know how I am going to deal through the weekend but my next question is if they see something that is life threatening while doing the test they will contact the doctor right? Before you leave even? I have tons of things going on with me and I am not sure if its coming from one big there or a couple of little things. I am at my witts ends. I am waiting for blood results for lupus and some other autoimmune disorders. I am also having a numb feeling on the left side of my spine. It was just here and there and in one small spot but now its more there then not and its starting to go further down. I am just a mess.. Okay so any insight would be greatly appreciated and last question is have any of you had these strange symptoms before and figured out what it was? Does this sound like an emergency? I keep thinking I have some kind of cancer:( thanks

[Caryopteris]

Re the heating issue:

http://www.mrisafety.com/safety_article.asp?subject=17

They will look at the images that were taken and report on those.  

I don't have any ideas on what's going on with you,  Sorry.