Scans and Dentists

Monday was my three month scan date. I had to go by myself because my husband had to take care of the children. I had to leave the house at 7:00 am so that I could get to the hospital on time. This was the schedule:

8:00     radioactive injection for bone scan
8:30     CT scan
10:15   bone scan

Starting the night before a CT, you have to start drinking this stuff:

You have to drink 3 of them before you get to the hospital. Then, one more right before the CT.

You pour the contents into a glass of water and drink it.

It is clear, but you can taste it. It isn't that bad but still...

It used to get me a bit nauseous, but I think that I am getting more used to the taste. You can put it in a clear liquid without pulp but I choose to drink it with water. Otherwise, I might get repulsed to drink those drinks again because of the taste from this stuff. But really, it isn't that bad... anymore.

I got poked really hard that day. The technician had a hard time finding a vein. Once she poked me, she had to search a little bit more by moving the needle around in my arm. Not pleasant, but she really was. I've had her before. She said that she usually uses a smaller needle for the bone scan but she had to use the larger needle because of the CT that I would be having. She injected me with radioactive material which settles into your bones.

I figured something out. Remember how those alcohol and sanitary hospital smells were getting me nauseous? The reason was that those smells were triggering memories of my surgeries. Memories of surgery trigger memories of the physical reactions I had to the anesthesia and medications. Not good. Nausea. Spinning room. Vomiting. But, this time I tried a theory of mine. I breathed through my mouth. Not smelling really helped. I didn't feel nauseous. I was so thankful!!

Then, with the injection port (I don't know what else to call that needle in your vein with the tubes coming out of it for injecting other materials into your bloodstream) in my arm. I went back to the waiting room and waited for the CT. It turned out to be really quick but I had to keep my left hand on my forehead. The CT is for the trunk of my body and I am supposed to raise my arms over my head - but I can't do that. The solution was to lift my left arm and place my hand on my forehead for support. Once again, I had to breathe through my mouth as the technician cleared the tubes with saline and injected the contrast. The contrast makes your body feel unnaturally warm.

As soon as something is injected through that port, you can taste it. It has a bit of a metallic, medicine taste. That is why I breathed through my mouth again. It really took the edge off of the taste in my mouth which would trigger the nausea from my past surgeries. In the end, I wasn't nauseous like the past scans three months ago.

There were some other issues of the stuff you drink for the CT clearing out my system. You need to stay home during that time. We were invited to dinner that night and my stomach started cramping up (really badly) at the end of our meal. My body had not finished clearing everything out.

Then, Tuesday came around and the dentist went to phase II of the root canal. He also found another cavity on another tooth and quickly put a filling on it. At the end, I came out having 4 novacaine shots and making the dentist very rich. There is the issue of getting a crown put on... but we will at a later, later time. Oh, and I wasn't dizzy and nauseous like the last time.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers. Please continue to pray about the results of the CT and bone scans. I have my monthly oncology visit this Friday and I will find out the results then.