Today I spent some time in the Nuclear Medicine department at UT Southwestern. My day started out with all sorts of fun by having to wake up at 3:15am. That is an awful time to be awake for anything, let alone a three hour drive. J and I hit the road at 4am and even with Dallas morning traffic we arrived 30 minutes early.
I knew I was having some type of nuclear scan, and if it was like the one I'd had previously, they would put in an IV and give me an injection of nuclear stuff, and two hours later I would have a scan.
WRONG.
The tech that took me back to the imaging room asked if I had had lymphoscintigraphy before. Nope.
Then she asked if I knew what it was. Nope again.
Another tech entered the room and they proceeded to explain what was going to happen.
Let the fun begin.
I sat down on the little bed and they put a table cart in front of me. I was instructed to put my hands flat on the table and stay as still as possible. Like this:
(See the lovely difference lymphedema has made? My normal right hand and the elephant hand on the left.... ugh)
Anyway.... I digress.
The two nice female techs explained that they were going to give me injections of the radioactive dye that would show the blood flow in my hands and arms for the scan.
Oh, and those injections would be done at the same time... BETWEEN MY FINGERS!!!!! 😱😱
Let me tell you, that is as unpleasant as it sounds. The prick of the needles wasn't that bad because those needles are tiny.... but that radioactive shit feels like FIRE going in. (Pardon my language)
I kept my cool and didn't flinch or make a sound. The techs were impressed.
"Wow you are strong! Not even a wince."
I've been through much worse.... but still.... Jesus, that hurt.
I then spent the next two hours with this machine:
I don't know if the dye wasn't behaving or my circulation was too slow (hello - it was freezing in there!), but they kept having to redo images (each one took 5 minutes), wait 5-10 minutes in between, and even had me get up and walk around, stretching my arms before they tried again.
Finally they got all that was needed, and I waited another twenty minutes for the radiologist to confirm that before they let me go. Getting up at 3:30am to spend six hours in the car and three hours in a waiting room earned my teenager lunch at Cheesecake Factory (and we even brought dessert for Hubby) before heading home.
Dr C will review my test results and then a decision will be made on what, if any, surgery I'll be able to have for my lymphedema. I'm not really sure what he's looking for or what a "good" result is, but whatever it is, I'm praying for it.
I was asleep on the couch by 3pm.
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