Last week was the long awaited CT scan at Park Nicollet in Maple Grove. And I had to drink that full bottle of contrast before so we had to get there early. I was going to be brave and just use the walker all the way to the scan check in, but just getting out of the car and using it to walk in to the clinic made me chicken out and we used the wheel chair instead. :-). It is not so bad with my leg hurting but more my shoulders get sore pretty quickly…I may need some PT on those too! So we had to get there about 30 minutes early for the contrast to get in to my system. And then when she gave it to me she said I had to finish drinking it all within 15 minutes. So much pressure!! It really did not taste bad…more tasted like stale water, but still hard to chug in 15 minutes.
So after drinking that in the allotted time…always following the rules…LOL…I then had to go to the bathroom. So in the wheel chair, David and I navigated the rest room. This rest room was not very wheel chair friendly which is funny being at a medical clinic. The receptionist apologized and said she had asked a number of times to have the door upgraded so a button could be used to auto open the door, but her request apparently falls on silence. So with her helping, and David trying to handle the wheel chair we finally made it inside…and believe me it is not only missing the auto door feature, but some more room would also be nice getting the wheel chair directly in there rather than having to go ahead, go backward, go ahead a number of times to get into the space! Again…this is in a medical clinic!! LOL. So we made it in and I did the business I needed to do….oh another bit of information…there was a huge recycle bin that David had to move so I could get into the sink area. It did make a scraping noise, but didn’t seem alarming at all. All of a sudden there was pounding at the door asking if I was ok. We told them that everything was fine and I told David maybe the moving of the can made them concerned. So we opened the door to again back and forth the wheel chair to get out. There was a nurse there that offered to take over the working of the chair and said “I am a professional at this”…and she was and got us out of the room quickly. Well, much to both of our surprises, I had apparently pulled the emergency string sometime in the process of my business and caused panic within the area. We did not even realize it since there was no indication or noise inside the bathroom. Guess the alarm goes off all through the lab area, and people come running to help!! YIKES!! I apologized and said we did not even realize what we had done!! LOL. At least you know if you need to get someone’s attention, just pull that red string in the bathroom!
So it was in to the CT area. I was talking to the technologist as they helped my gimpy leg up on to the table and told them that the insurance company would not approve the chest being scanned since I had a CT chest scan just before surgery. :-(. The technologists all said we were wondering why we had to do 2 scans…one for the neck and one for the stomach and pelvis area. They laughed and said they had never done something like that. Don’t we love insurance companies.??!! So now that they have to do 2 scans, maybe it will cost the insurance twice as much!!!??? The scan went well and we got back home and settled back in.
Of course with clinics now posting test results to your My Chart, I did see the results of the lower area within a few hours. Looks like the lymph node in the pelvis area has reduced in size which was great news. The neck results did not come in until the next day and indicated that on the right side there is an enlarged lymph node. It had been seen in previous scans and had not reduced in size.
This week, on Thursday, I am scheduled to go in for a biopsy, so I wanted to check in with Dr. Chen and see if that is still on and if they would do the one in the neck. I left a message with Shelby and she called me back on Thursday about 7pm. She and Chen discussed the results and Chen definitely is focusing on that neck lymph node. But she is not sure if it can be biopsied where it is located. Shelby indicated that Chen would need to consult with the radiation team, who would do the biopsy, and see if it can even be done. Shelby was off on Friday, but was going to make sure that Chen connected with that team to see if I needed to keep the biopsy appointment on Thursday or if they need to make other plans. Since Chen is off on Monday and Tuesdays (maybe I said this before, but she flies every weekend to San Francisco to be with her elderly parents…she and her siblings take turns doing that…but Shelby said she sometimes does work even from there…) I assume I may not hear anything until Wednesday. I will leave a message for Shelby if I don’t hear anything by noon so I know whether or not to go to the biopsy, which is scheduled early Thursday morning.
On another note, we will take a trip to Mayo on Friday morning for my 6 week check and also to replace the leg brace with one that had a knee hinge. I will be so excited to bend my knee…it actually feels kind of creeky not having being bent in so long. I know range of motion on the knee is another area that physical therapy needs to address, so I am sure it will be stiff to move in the beginning. Nice we can just make a day trip out of going to Mayo since the appointment with the surgeon is at 11am.
Well think I am caught up for now.
Hey the sun….the SUN….is out this morning in Minnesota!!!!!!!
Stay sunny and think positive thoughts!
Dandy Ventures 