Glowing Yet?
Today I got up early and drove myself to my new vacation home... you know... the local hospital. I was scheduled for a nuclear medicine test called a HIDA scan, to check out my liver and gallbladder. During this test you're injected with a radioactive liquid they call a tracer and then lay still for an hour while an x-ray like machine takes pictures of your abdomen.
The first thing to start glowing on the screen is the liver, which serves as a filter for the body. Apparently, my liver is oddly shaped and made the technician comment about how weird it was. Nothing abnormal, he reassured me, just every one's liver looks a little different and mine has this special little curly end on it. But anyway.
It took about 30 minutes for the tracer to start making my gallbladder glow on the screen. The tech also pointed out a small portion of the duodenum was glowing faintly beside the gallbladder and liver.
After that it was hurry up and wait.... the following 30 minutes seemed to take forever. I'd close my eyes and try to relax then they'd pop open to check the screen again. With about 15 minutes left before phase two of the test I saw that the tracer was lighting up the bile ducts that empty into the small intestines.
Once the first hour had finally passed it was time for the second 30 minute portion of the test to being. They hooked up my IV line to a pump that would push another kind of nuclear medicine into my body that would cause my gallbladder to contract and excrete bile, basically simulating what normally happens when we eat a fatty meal, since bile is used to help break down fat in the small intestines during the digestive processes.
I was warned that it might cause cramping or pain in my abdomen once the medicine hit my blood stream. I was nervous because I didn't want to hurt. And lucky for me it didn't. Which was both good and bad. Apparently it will hurt most people if they have actual gallstones, so it's good that it didn't hurt because that might mean there aren't any stones in there. But it might be bad because if the gallbladder isn't diseased or have stones in it, then this test might not help us figure out why I'm suffering the attacks.
I won't get any results for a day or two. And of course, just like Tom Petty pointed out years ago, "the waiting is the hardest part". But I've waited and suffered this long, whats another 24-48 hours. Plus, even once I have the results, if it's non-conclusive then I'll wait for another test, another appointment, and continue to get through the pain as it comes my way.
I'm really tired of it. But what can I do? I can't cut myself open and remove the parts I think are causing the problem myself. And I can't get a doctor to do it without a good reason to. So I'll endure, deal and take it one day at a time.
Until then.... it's just living. :)
The first thing to start glowing on the screen is the liver, which serves as a filter for the body. Apparently, my liver is oddly shaped and made the technician comment about how weird it was. Nothing abnormal, he reassured me, just every one's liver looks a little different and mine has this special little curly end on it. But anyway.
It took about 30 minutes for the tracer to start making my gallbladder glow on the screen. The tech also pointed out a small portion of the duodenum was glowing faintly beside the gallbladder and liver.
After that it was hurry up and wait.... the following 30 minutes seemed to take forever. I'd close my eyes and try to relax then they'd pop open to check the screen again. With about 15 minutes left before phase two of the test I saw that the tracer was lighting up the bile ducts that empty into the small intestines.
Once the first hour had finally passed it was time for the second 30 minute portion of the test to being. They hooked up my IV line to a pump that would push another kind of nuclear medicine into my body that would cause my gallbladder to contract and excrete bile, basically simulating what normally happens when we eat a fatty meal, since bile is used to help break down fat in the small intestines during the digestive processes.
I was warned that it might cause cramping or pain in my abdomen once the medicine hit my blood stream. I was nervous because I didn't want to hurt. And lucky for me it didn't. Which was both good and bad. Apparently it will hurt most people if they have actual gallstones, so it's good that it didn't hurt because that might mean there aren't any stones in there. But it might be bad because if the gallbladder isn't diseased or have stones in it, then this test might not help us figure out why I'm suffering the attacks.
I won't get any results for a day or two. And of course, just like Tom Petty pointed out years ago, "the waiting is the hardest part". But I've waited and suffered this long, whats another 24-48 hours. Plus, even once I have the results, if it's non-conclusive then I'll wait for another test, another appointment, and continue to get through the pain as it comes my way.
I'm really tired of it. But what can I do? I can't cut myself open and remove the parts I think are causing the problem myself. And I can't get a doctor to do it without a good reason to. So I'll endure, deal and take it one day at a time.
Until then.... it's just living. :)
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