Contrast and CT Scans

So I thought I'd write something about the scans I get routinely, because some of them are kind of interesting.

The first few exams I had that I really don't do anymore are MRI and a Gallium scan. MRI is a pretty typical scan for all sorts of diagnosis processes, and it's really uninteresting except for the fact that it's a giant magnet. I don't have any interesting stories, but I'm sure the technicians who run the scans do, given that you have to empty your pockets down to the last penny before going into the room.

The Gallium scans were really interesting, they apply to certain types of cancers to detect abnormal growth. Simply, gallium is a radioactive element that clusters around cancer cells, so it would show high-density clusters on the scan. (I believe that's right, but IANAD) You have to get injected with about 10mL, if I remember correctly, two weeks or so before they do the actual scan. When I told people about this scan, the two questions they asked were 1. Since the half-life is quite quite long, does it stay in you forever?The answer is no, you pee it out, which leads to the second question, does your pee glow? (It does not) The Gallium scan I do have a funny anecdote about, I had a scan in 8th grade a few months into remission, and my Science teacher at the time, Mr. Thomas, was a great teacher who loved to get his students interested in science. He managed to get a Geiger counter (measures radiation for the few of those who don't know) from the high school because he wanted to see how radioactive I was.

We were joking about it, and he showed me about 3/4s up the meter was the level of radioactivity in the heart of Chernobyl, the Ukranian (ex-Soviet) nuclear plant that partially melted down decades ago. Mr. Thomas was not sure I'd register on the counter. I started outside the classroom, down the hall, and there was no activity. As I walked closer, the machine started to beep, and then to his utter shock, I stepped in the classroom, and the Geiger counter had maxed out. That's right, it had hit the top of the scale and was chirping. I recall seeing his eyes, totally surprised, and then his exclamation, "HOLY SHIT!" Unfortunately, I haven't really had one of those in 5 years or so, that was a fun test.

Oh, I remembered another little amusing story about the Gallium scans. One time when I went in for an exam, which were quite lengthy, I had to hold my arms in awkward positions for about an hour and fifteen minutes or so, I finished the exam and went to the ground floor at Strong Memorial Hospital. Before going into the parking garage, I told my mom I had to pee. At this point, I was probably 14-15. So I go into the bathroom, and I thought it was empty, because as I peed, I said in a Homer Simpson voice "Mmm...radioactive toilet..." to which the previously unseen doctor in the stall yelled, "WHAT?!" I booked it out of there.

CT scans are what I typically get now, usually once a year. They are pretty concise, though now I go to a private clinic after two horror sessions at the hospital, one in which I waited about 4 hours before they finally got around to scanning, and the other when they injected 300cc of contrast straight into my arm, instead of the vein. The plastic surgeons who visited me that afternoon (mandatory for hospital protocol) told me either my skin would start to fall off, or it would go away over a few weeks, and there wasn't really anything we could do except wait and see. Anyways, the scan takes about 20-30minutes, but the prep takes a long time. For my scans, I usually have to do 3 kinds of identifying procedures, all of which are odd.

The first is drinking contrast, over an hour period before the scan, every 10 minutes you have to drink a cupful. It used to be nasty, and I have to say they have done fine work over the last 10 years or so removing its' previous extreme objectionable flavor. Now it's just the creepy texture that annoys me, it's soupy but still liquid, a very odd substance. So once you finish drinking it, they take you in, put an IV in, and sometimes, do test #2. I've only had this once in a while, not recently I don't think, but it's just as odd. To get a better look at the neck region, I have to swallow this chunky pudding-like substance, that like the drinkable contrast, is not particularly offensive in flavor, but certainly the texture is revolting. And I like pudding too, it's something totally odd. You eat a bit in the room, and then later as they are administering the test.

Once that's said and done, you go into the room with the machine, about 1h30min after you arrived. You lay down, and the machine takes you in and out running a supercamera around you, as well as giving you instructions to hold your breath and such. To get the lymphnodes in my armpits, I have to hold my arms above my head the whole time which is pretty tiring, on a good day they give you a little pillow for it. It goes about 10minutes or so, and then they attach a machine to your IV and slowly pump usually 600cc of contrast dye into your bloodstream. This is probably the oddest part, the sensations you get as the dye courses through your body are bizarre, to say the least. You feel flushing warm, like suddenly you walked into a very humid very hot room. Then you feel like you taste metal in your mouth, and eventually, your nether regions become very flushed, moreso than the rest of your body. It kinda feels like you have to pee bad, and that you crapped your pants. That feeling lasts for about 5minutes before you kinda get used to it, and the scan lasts 10 more minutes or so. After, they take the IV out, give you something to drink (the drinkable contrast can damage your kidneys if not flushed out) and you go on your way home.