My PET CAT: Thursday morning was the time of my PET and CAT scans (the latter is generally called a CT…not sure why they shorten the acronym like this, since I believe they're the same thing). After changing into scrubs (more on this later), I met the radiologist and he walked me through what was going to happen. The process begins in earnest with a blood sugar test then an insertion of an IV “plug” in my left arm. The radiologist then injected a radioactive tracer substance through the IV (the hypodermic “needle” is a short, fat metal tube). Then I was requited to wait for nearly an hour, moving as little as possible, since activity might “misdirect” the body's metabolism to concentrate the tracer in the muscles, for instance. Sitting in a dimly lit room listening to new age music and “light” classical was a trifle tortuous, and I like classical music. I probably should be thankful that it wasn't an hour's worth of Air Supply or Lawrence Welk. Or Foreigner “4”, for that matter (high school in-joke…guess you had to be there). 

After the waiting period, the radiologist took me to the scanning room. The machinery itself is both impressive and intimidating. Picture two giant Lifesavers, about five feet in circumference, positioned about two feet apart and standing on supports so that they're about seven feet tall; you lie on a sliding tray, pointing feet first, that passes you through the “holes” of the Lifesavers for the scans, keeping as still as possible the entire time. The radiologist first did a quick (two or three minutes) CT, then he did the PET scan, which was about twenty-five minutes. I did get a bit claustrophobic, especially with being required to hold my arms over my head for the duration. After the PET-ting, he injected an iodine solution into the IV and did a second quick CT. You can feel the iodine tracer pass down your torso; it's a warm sensation that seems to settle in your groin. He mentioned that it feels like you just wet yourself, but no one ever has. “There's always a first time”, I told him. That was it, except for going home and drinking about three liters of water to help flush out the radioactive tracer.

I was going to mention the scrubs again. The pants were very loose and the radiologist had me go to the bathroom after the IV installation. He'd told me during his first walk-through of the process about how it feels like you're going to wet yourself when he injects the iodine before the last CT scan. So what did I do when I went to the bathroom? "Why can't I hear any splash-...oh, crap." After I came out, I asked him if he wanted a laugh at my expense and showed him my impressive piss stain. After a good chuckle, he said that it was extremely common for men to do that with those loose scrubs, but no one's ever pointed it out to him before.  I'm beyond shame, I guess…that comes with all the vile stuff I couldn't keep from doing during my hospital stay (in front of the prettiest young RNs and CNAs, of course). 

The weather here is cool and drizzly today. Tried to go for a walk but didn't get very far. Even the local wildlife was taking shelter; I didn't see much besides a couple of gulls and my buddies the alpacas. 

I promised pictures soon in an earlier post. You'll have a couple more days to wait, I'm afraid. A thousand pardons…