Reading in the dark - Kestrell gets a Catscan, a followup to migrains post
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Kestrell gets a Catscan, a followup to migrains post
During December and January I had a lot of migraines, so my GP gave me a referral to a neurologist. The neurologist asked a lot of questions, especially as one symptom of fibromyalgia, which I have, is very bad headaches, complete with sensitivity to sounds and smells, so it is more complicated distinguishing these from migraines. Aside from quintupling the amitriptilin I was already taking for my fibro, the neurologist ordered some bloodwork and a Catscan. (It would have been an MRI, but I was unable to say for certain whether I had any pieces of metal in my head since, despite my asking questions from my various eye surgeons, they were unable to answer this question. One more reason for demanding that doctors give you any and all information on surgical procedures.)
Anyway, the catscan itself was kind of fun, in a very science fiction kind of way, so I thought I would share the details.
Despite receiving paperwork on where to go for the appt., I didn't receive specific pre-appointment directions, but as ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) herooftheage is now an expert on many medical procedures, it seemed pretty likely I was not supposed to eat. This was later confirmed by a nurse, but, in the case of a catscan, you only need to abstain from eating two hours before the appt., and that is because the iodine dye used makes many people nauseous.
Before the catscan, a nurse used a needle to insert a tiny tube into my arm, as this tube is the delivery method for the dye. Note: this was delayed by the fact that I had just had blood drawn, thus using one of my best vein sites. The nurse said that these two procedures could have been done at the same time, thus cutting down on the amount of time I had people poking me in that vein, both with needles and with their fingertips.
When I entered the room where they do the catscan, there is this giant science fiction machine. I lay down, fully clothed, on the gurney, which had flaps that held my head in place.
When the catscan is started, there is this sound like you are in the mothership and it is taking off for space, think large engines. The gurney begins to automatically rise in the air, which made me giggle and say, "It's aliiiive!" alexx_kay was in a connected observation booth, and he said at this point there were little laser dots running over my face.
The technicians do one series of catscans, then a nurse came up and attached a device which alexx_kay said looked like a double-barreled phaser gun to the tube inserted in my arm. The iodine dye is injected, and the nurses allow five minutes for it to travel through the brain. As the nurse explained this, I thought, Hey, this could be useful information in case I ever write a poisoning scene, so I asked how long it takes for the injected fluid to get to the brain. The nurse answered it only takes seconds, but they allow five minutes to make sure it gets to all the smaller capillaries.
The dye causes this sensation of warmth, which was just as well, because the hall I had been waiting in was, to me, quite cool and my hands had been getting cold. There is also this sensation of having a full bladder, but it goes away pretty quickly, before the end of the five minutes it takes for the technicians to do the second series of scans.
The whole procedure probably took ten to fifteen minutes, after which alexx_kay and I spent an hour walking around outside of Boston Medical trying to find a bus to take us back to the redline, an especially fun feat on the day of the Boston Marathon. By the time the second bus driver said he didn't go to the redline but we could get on and go to the Orange line and then back to the etc. etc., I was down to my last spoon and I was on the verge of hijacking the bus (I figured alexx_kay could just yell "go right!" or "go left!"). Fortunately, the bus driver admitted that yes, there was another possibility that was less complicated and he gave us directions to find the supersecret bus which would get us back to the redline, and friends, we did, and everything was groovy except that I need to say, if I ever have something seriously wrong with me and end up at Boston Medical, I am going to spring for a taxi back home because every time I go there it takes just as long to get home as it takes for whatever medical procedure I am getting.
Wikipedia entry on Catscan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catscan
Current Location: aerye
Current Mood:  tired
Current Music: www.wumb.org
Tags: health, medical, migraines
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You managed to squeeze every useful bit of data from what sounds like a thoroughly annoying test. I've always wondered why they couldn't do some sort of Qwik-E-Skan(tm) to determine the presence of metals -- after all, there are millions of machines that do just that at airports all over the planet. Wouldn't that be a lot safer than relying on self-report?
BTW, your cut text appears twice in the current post, for some reason.
Now I want to hear a radio play called "Speed: the Thrilling Sequel" wherein you hijack a bus which will blow up if you drop below 50mph.
Does it say something about how much of my life I have spent in hospitals and doctor offices that I actually thought that visit went rather well? I just wish we could figure out the optimal bus route to get back home. But I have a summing up comment I use for when I think a hospital visit went well: Hey, I didn't even lose a body part that round! |
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