Having enjoyed the weekend despite the so-so weather, I woke up at 5:00 AM without the alarm. The body does get conditioned as we age. I had some notes from the doctor that said that I needed to fast (since midnight) and I could only take my regular meds with very little water.
Coffee, coffee - I needed coffee. But no coffee for me. I tried to keep busy. I read the previous night's paper, caught up on some e-mail, paid some bills online and updated my Facebook status. Right at 8:00AM I called Holy Family. Spoke with Lisa who was especially perky for the day and time. She asked very few questions. [I assumed they had all my answers to other questions asked each time I showed up.] She said that I needed to have an ISO (injection of radioactive isotopes and imaging for node tracking]. That was scheduled for 10:15. She paused and said she was checking to see if my insurance was still current. "Yes, your insurance is current and your co-pay is $150.00. I can take that now." [Of course you will.]
I got a ride to the hospital and arrived at 8:45. Stopping off at the main reception I was directed to the second floor - surgical day care. I met with Kristen who said that I needed to pre-register. I told her I did it over the phone. With a suspicious look she picked up the phone and spoke to someone and said, I have a patient that 'claims' to have pre-registered. [Claims? - What would I get for lying?]
Her expression changed when my 'claim' was verified, then with a comment that sounded like an excuse, she said, "she's sending it right now." [I did have my receipt from my credit card app for the $150.00 I paid earlier if things got ugly, but it wasn't necessary.]
I was instructed to sit and wait. I would be called to be escorted to radiology.
About an half hour later, Jean (nurse) came and got me. She said that she would be with me up to the surgery hand-off. Nice to have a guide at times like these. A wheel chair was summoned and I was carted to radiation.
I was instructed to lay on the slab at the imaging machine and a nuclear radiologist came in, asked the required questions, name, DOB, then a few background questions. "How did you find this tumor?" And other related informational gathering questions. He told me that they were going to slather some topical numbing agent to deaden some of the pain from the injection of radioactive dye. He did say that he was going to inject me three times and he was quite clear that it was going to hurt and sting badly despite the topical agent. I attest, he wasn't lying. His assistant said that I could have used a stress ball. I guess she could see my clenched folded fingers pressing as hard as I could to distract from the sting. Not pleasant. Even after they were done it burned inside. I was told I needed to wait 20 minutes before the area could be imaged. Apparently this radioactive dye, injected into the tumor makes its way to the lymph nodes and the surgeon uses the image and a Geiger counter to zero in on the node(s) that need to be biopsied. Medical marvels.
After twenty minutes the technician said the other machine just opened up and she thought it might be more comfortable than the slab. It was, I had been in that one previously for the bone scan. She took many shots and had huge plates of glass (like daguerreotypes) that she shuffled about. Initially she explained what was displaying on the screen, but to me it looked like a Rorschach test. I won't comment on what I 'claimed' to have seen.
When everything was done, the lorry arrived for my ride to surgical day care.
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