Bone Scan

Boy times flies. It seemed like just the other day that I had to visit the RUH and get a bone scan for a possible broken bone in my pelvis area. That was September 2006. The doctor that interpreted the scan felt that I was good to go and had no problem at the time, but he wanted to do a follow up a year later. So on Friday I went to the RUH for another test.

Last year the scan was just gruelling with having to drink so much water and getting pictures taken of my whole body for almost an hour. So of course I wasn't looking forward to the retest this year. At least I was familiar with what was going to transpire, so I attended the hospital a lot better prepared. First off I knew that I had lots of time to waste so I stopped by the library on Thursday and picked up a pocket novel to read. Then I filled up some water containers and got them chilled in the fridge.

On Friday I headed into the city a bit early as I had to report to admitting at 12:45 pm which would be the hospital lunch hour. I felt maybe the admitting office would be short staffed during this time and I was correct. Even so, it didn't take me long to get admitted for the day and told where to attend next, ie Nuclear Medicine. I checked and the office was still in the same place that it was last year, so I was good to go. I found a comfy (isn't that an oxymoron with hospital equipment) chair to sit down and commenced my novel.

Just prior to my scheduled time, I made my way over to Nuclear Medicine and reported in at 1:05 pm. I was about 10 minutes early, but I had my book so I didn't really mind. Lo and behold I was called in right away. This part of the test is where they inject a radioactive isotope into my arm to allow the cameras to get better pictures. This went off very well and then I was free until 3:30 pm. The gal giving me the needle advised that I should try and drink about 3 or 4 glasses of water. I queried her on the 3 or 4 glasses thing as last year I had to drink 8 litres of liquid. She assured me that 3 or 4 would be fine but about 5 glasses would be better.

I departed the lab and headed out to the parking lot to have a sit down for a couple hours. I had my cooler of water (way too much now) and got comfy with the book once again and drank my water leisurely. Last year I had to chug down the water to try and get it all down in the allotted 2 hours. Five glasses is nothing.

I did make a trip into the hospital to use the facilities and then back out to the truck to continue to wait. As the time approached 3:15 pm, I headed back into the hospital to use the facilities once again. After drinking the water, you want to ensure your bladder is empty prior to the tests.

Once again I reported in at about 3:25 pm and within a couple minutes I was taken in for the tests. The young gal set me up on the track and I got settled in as best I could. Remember this track is about the size of a 2 X 10 piece of board and feels about the same. There is almost nil padding on the track but I did get a pillow for my head and for my knees. The operator set up my feet in the proper position and taped them together so they couldn't move during the test.

She said that the test would only be about 15 1/2 minutes long which really surprised me after last years hour test. Once she got the camera set up about an inch from my nose we were off to the races. True to form, within 15 minutes I could tell the camera as just about finished doing it's thing as it was just over my feet. When the timer went off to signal the test was over, the operator headed out to check with the doctor to interpret the pictures. She was back in a couple minutes stating that we were all done and I was free to go.

This was great news as far as I was concerned so I got off the track and immediately felt that my back was hurting big time. Even the short stay that I was perched on the 2 X 10 and now I had pains in my lower back. Of course it didn't help that I was very tense with the camera thing just an inch from my nose. But I managed to walk out okay and headed for my truck and then home.

I'll find out in a couple days from my doctor what the scan found and see where we go from there. The interesting thing is that prior to this test I have been feeling great. NO pains anywhere on me and especially none in the pelvis area where the broken bone was supposed to be. Now 2 days later, my lower back is still hurting and I have pains in my hip area (both sides). I'm hoping it is just the way I was perched on the 2 X 10 in a tense position and that things get back to normal soon.

Time will tell.