Couldn't sleep well last night in anticipation of being injected with radiolabeled liquid first thing this morning. Had a couple sips of coffee and some H2O as I made my way to the hospital at 7am. I parked and found my way through the maze that is BWH to the nuclear medicine department just in time for my 7:30am check-in. As I checked in, I realized that I'd forgotten my blue card. Apparently you can't be seen unless you have one. So I was directed to the Ambulatory Unit check-in desk to get one and I was greeted by a very friendly woman who hooked me up with my fast pass to the bone scanner.
I checked in again and was quickly whisked off to a stark room with a comfy leather chair, in which I was instructed to sit, by a tech who acted as if it was his first day on the job. He proceeded to tell me that he'd be inserting an iv into my arm and noted that I had "great veins". He proceeded to cut off my circulation with the tourniquete and I thought my veins were going to explode. He stuck me once, pushed in the iv tube and realized that he'd missed the mark as blood rushed into the attached vial of saline. "Whoops, let me try again" he said to me. He poked again, just above the first stab wound and I noticed that the tube was half filled with blood and air. That doesn't look right. I hope he doesn't give me an embolism, I have a lot of things I need to do today. He began to push the saline in and the skin above the needle quickly enlarged into a small mound. "Oh...I am so sorry," he said to me, "Feel that..." he rubbed the growing bump..."I don't want to tell you this but I am going to have to get someone else to just do a straight stick because I have missed your enormous vein again" Fantastic, I am now a human pin cushion. I rolled up my right sleeve in preparation. "No problem," I smiled.
The second tech thankfully acted like he knew what he was doing. He pulled the needle & radioactive isotope out of a lead vase, tightened the tourniquet and stabbed me for a third time. This time it took. Whew. He informed me that I needed to return in 3 hours and to drink lots of water. I hope coffee counts.
Three hours later I found myself laying on an over sized geiger counter watching small white dots form the outline of my skeleton. It took about a half an hour to take a full body scan and two leg scans. It was the coolest thing I've seen since grad school and I almost asked the tech to print me out a copy of the picture so I could take it home as a souvenir. I didn't, only because I thought that might be just a little weird.
On my way out of the office, the tech introduced me to one of the radiologists who would later examine my scan. He told me that at first glance, everything looked ok, but that he would take a closer look at the offending area and talk to my doctor if he finds anything. I should know my status by Tuesday. I'm thinking that I am ok.
The plan for this weekend is to run two 10ks and go for a hike (or bike ride). A little phantom pain isn't going to slow me down...
I checked in again and was quickly whisked off to a stark room with a comfy leather chair, in which I was instructed to sit, by a tech who acted as if it was his first day on the job. He proceeded to tell me that he'd be inserting an iv into my arm and noted that I had "great veins". He proceeded to cut off my circulation with the tourniquete and I thought my veins were going to explode. He stuck me once, pushed in the iv tube and realized that he'd missed the mark as blood rushed into the attached vial of saline. "Whoops, let me try again" he said to me. He poked again, just above the first stab wound and I noticed that the tube was half filled with blood and air. That doesn't look right. I hope he doesn't give me an embolism, I have a lot of things I need to do today. He began to push the saline in and the skin above the needle quickly enlarged into a small mound. "Oh...I am so sorry," he said to me, "Feel that..." he rubbed the growing bump..."I don't want to tell you this but I am going to have to get someone else to just do a straight stick because I have missed your enormous vein again" Fantastic, I am now a human pin cushion. I rolled up my right sleeve in preparation. "No problem," I smiled.
The second tech thankfully acted like he knew what he was doing. He pulled the needle & radioactive isotope out of a lead vase, tightened the tourniquet and stabbed me for a third time. This time it took. Whew. He informed me that I needed to return in 3 hours and to drink lots of water. I hope coffee counts.
Three hours later I found myself laying on an over sized geiger counter watching small white dots form the outline of my skeleton. It took about a half an hour to take a full body scan and two leg scans. It was the coolest thing I've seen since grad school and I almost asked the tech to print me out a copy of the picture so I could take it home as a souvenir. I didn't, only because I thought that might be just a little weird.
On my way out of the office, the tech introduced me to one of the radiologists who would later examine my scan. He told me that at first glance, everything looked ok, but that he would take a closer look at the offending area and talk to my doctor if he finds anything. I should know my status by Tuesday. I'm thinking that I am ok.
The plan for this weekend is to run two 10ks and go for a hike (or bike ride). A little phantom pain isn't going to slow me down...
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