First night was hard to settle down and sleep but I did finally sleep at least until the lab came and woke me up before 6am for bloodwork. I was surprised how many vials they took. They test everything here. Started the 24 hour urine collection- yay! That's so fun when you're on the move too! Ate breakfast before being put on clear fluids from 10am to 6ish when my MRIs are done, and I ordered vegetable broth and a jello for later incase I go hypoglycemic.
Someone picked me up to go down to the ultrasound place for 830am where the tech was so friendly and tried to locate my parathyroids. She even looked in my arm where the autograft is! Even the radiologist came in and he's very nice as well!
Dexa scan is the easiest one of all and the lady that does it is so nice. I did ask for the thyroid lead guard because my thyroid is enlarged with nodules. If you don't ask to be protected it's often not even offered! Oftentimes we're given so much radiation with all of these scans we should try to protect our thyroid as much as we can!
Back upstairs for a bit to prepare for the more intense scans. Dietitian came in and we chatted about diet and stuff. I told her how I control my blood sugar with a paleo diet and she seemed pretty impressed by my knowledge of food and the body.
Then the chaplain came in for a chat and I realized that I'm not typically open to this sort of thing but today for some reason I needed a talk- and turns out a good cry. She was great because she really listened and knew exactly what questions to ask and validated my feelings and prayed with me. It was something my soul needed. It really helped me find some peace with the rest of the day. One thing she said that totally stuck with me was that the thing she hears the most from people coming to NIH is that it's a very intense emotional experience because at home in our day to day lives we can sort of get away from our medical issues, by having busy lives, but here it's a complete submersion into it. Some people have a hard time coping with the reality of that- I would say that we all do! That's also true for me. I belong to many social media support groups and there are days that I have to scroll past without reading, because I walk a fine line between wanting to help people and also shielding myself from the emotional pain that I feel for everyone in my support groups - not to mention the reminder of the trauma that I've been through that allows me to offer support to them..
Then time for the CT scans. Escorted downstairs after taking an ativan. I'm not afraid to admit that I take this before some of my scans because in the past I've actually had a panic attack while in an MRI and ruined the test. Down in the CT department I was told to drink 4 cups of water and then they put the IV into my arm. I really like that they use the tape that sticks to itself instead of the skin!! Once on the CT table, my IV was hooked up to the machine that would administer the contrast. If you've never had this done before, it can be kind of uncomfortable because all of a sudden you feel very warm- I felt hot actually- some people say it feels like they've wet themselves from this sensation! Thankfully the feeling left as fast as it came on and I was done the CT in a very short time.
It was the MRI that I was the most worried about because it takes quite a long time to get done and it's very tight quarters in there! I was happy that the tech was so friendly and wanted me to feel comfortable so after getting me set up with earplugs, headphones, and a warm blanket, he put on some music of my choice. This scan also had the machine injection of contrast but it was near the end of the images and I hardly noticed anything. They do the pictures in sets and most of it you do the breathing and hold your breath for about 20 seconds at a time. That helps pass the time. I also found myself singing along to the music sometimes in my head which helped. The MRI is so long - I believe I was in the machine for about 90 minutes- that's a long time to not move! I was quite relieved when that test was done. Headed upstairs and was excited that I got a roommate! Having a roommate at NIH is one of the greatest experiences for me because I love meeting people who "get" all of this - they oftentimes have similar a diagnosis as me, with NETS or other endocrine problems. My roommate this time was such a beautiful soul! Her and her husband are just such lovely people, it really made my stay so much richer!
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