Step 1: Walked up to the lovely receptionist and told her what I was there for. We then get shown to the lab for blood work. At that lovely time, I ask "hey they are going to start an IV for the scans, why stick me twice? Can we not just get my blood work from my IV?" Luckily they agreed so sent me packing with a red ziplock baggie full of vials to hand the imaging tech when they start my iv. We then get shown to an entirely differrent area of the office where they seem to isolate the radioactive people.
Step 2: Walk up to the next receptionist in a packed waiting room. She then shocks me by notifying me that I get a lovely full body CT scan and get to drink the chalky barium drink and to "pick a flavor." I chose the mocha chocolate. Word of advice DONT CHOOSE THE MOCHA! Its terrible. So I drink that and have to wait an hour. During this time I had the pleasure of listening to 3 older ladies complain about cancer, and how "God gave so and so cancer." etc. Terrible conversation to have to listen to. In the end all of them were tearing up, yet somehow completely ignoring me and my husband. Not sure how we didnt get roped into the conversation, as everyone else in the waiting room was involved. I digress.... Finally my name was called to go back and get scanned.
Step 3: I get shown into a room that has a BIG radioactive symbol on the door, and shown a recliner. I sit down, and get asked a million questions. (to make sure I know Ill be radioactive etc) They then start the IV, get the blood work, and test my blood sugar. The PET scan works my injecting radioactive sugar stuff (yes stuff not exactly sure what it is) into my veins and the cancer cells hold on to the sugar. Where as the regular cells dump it faster. Then the scan lights up the cancer cells and makes them glow.
So next, the tech comes in with a syringe inside a large metal tube, all while wearing a lead vest. At that time she then injects the stuff in the metal tube into my iv. Comforting right?? She then tells me to nap for 45 minutes, hands me a 'panic button' in case of emergency and shuts the door. See at this time Im VERY VERY radioactive. They wont even stay and chat with me. Im not allowed to even mess with my phone or read a book during this time. This can mess up the test results as any movement can cause your muscles to absorb some of the (tech term here) 'glow stuff'. So they demand you to nap.
Step 4: 45 minutes is up! Tech comes back in and makes you empty your bladder. Due to the radioactive nature of the test they dont want that stuff sitting for long. Go figure, its bad on the ole bladder. They then show me to a room with a large tube, and a bed that goes into the middle of it. I lay down on the bed and the machine goes around me. The tech then ties my hands down, and my feet. They dont want you moving! I get to stay in there for about 30 minutes or so. They then attach me to an IV for the CT scan. They inject you with more contrast for the CT scan. The contrast feels very warm when they inject it. You can actually feel it flowing thru your entire body, all the way to your toes. Its very weird. Luckily, they are all done in the same machine. All in all I was in there maybe 40 minutes or so.
Step 5: GO HOME!!! I swear we were there all day. Lots of waiting to hurry up and wait some more. Never fails, every time we go there seems to be a 3-4 hour visit. Oh and the best part? I was starving the entire time. As they dont let you eat before the test. UGH. I was ready for food by the time I got out of there. Now? I get the pleasure of drinking lots of water to flush the radioactive stuff from my system. I cant hold Elliot for 24 horus. I can be in the same room as him, but a couch distance away. The more fluids I drink, the faster it flushes out of my system. Too bad I dont get to glow too!
I have discovered in the short time home 1 thing. Its very hard staying away from the little one. Hes semi mobile now. Hes not crawling yet, but he rolls everywhere he wants to go. We've had to move him a couple times as he will roll over to me and try to tug on my feet. Poor baby....
So now we wait until the 15th for the results. I hope for the best. However, it shouldnt hurt to breathe all the time. That cant be a good sign.
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