One would normally be a nervous wreck the night before a PET scan but I was more than normally nervous about it. One reason might be that I was up all night with my son who was throwing up his guts and had a very high fever which wouldnt come down. Its very hard to get fever down when a child cant hold down the Tylenol. Yes, I know about the other way it can be given but it wasnt an option because he was already very upset and almost hyserical from wretching so much. It sounded like he had caught the virus that I had a few weeks ago because he was describing the same stomach pain and the restlessness that I had with it. This morning when he was sitting in his high chair my DH said, "Look at the rash he developed on his face from the virus." Upon closer inspection I noticed that it wasnt a rash but broken capillaries in his face from the forcing of the wretching & vomiting. (Sorry to be so graphic here)
I felt so bad for him today. He was so uncomfortable last night that he moaned all night and he didnt want to come into our bed but wanted my DH to stay with him in his bed. My DH had a bit of a problem fittting in his bed with all the stuffed animals my son sleeps with and also the fact that the bed is much to small for a 6 ft, 210 lb man, LOL.
My DD went off to school while me, DH and DS went to my appointment at the hospital. I had an earlier one with the pain specialists APRN (an advanced degree nurse who can write scripts for medications and such). She is such a sweet woman and I really like her a lot. She works directly with the Dr whom I was seeing that it doesnt matter to me which one I see. The issues with my chronic pain is that it is interfering with my daily activities and with excercise I want to start doing to lose weight. She raised some of my doses and I think that its going to help me do the things I want to do. At least I hope it does!
After that appointment I went down to nuclear medicine to get ready for my PET Scan. Thank God I fasted for 7 hours because when I pre-registered the other day I asked if I should and the woman I spoke to said no. I knew that when I had a bone scan I had to fast for the same amount of time so common sense told me to do the same for this test. Its different than a bone scan in that you only have to wait one hour instead of two hours after you get the injection to get scanned. They inject a radioactive dextrose like substance that cancer cells or any bad cells would feed on and it shows on the scan. The only bad thing about the test was that you cant MOVE AT ALL after the injection is given. You are in a dark room with no stimulation at all. There is a recliner to sit in with blankets and pillows but NO magazines to read, no iPods to listen to and definitely NO knitting allowed. Normally I would have freaked out but since I had no sleep the night before I took a nice nap! The reason you cant have any stimulation is that you would use up the radioactive sugsr they are using and then your test results would not be accurate. They certainly are strict to because as I was setting up my pillows and picking my underwear out of my butt, I noticed a camera staring straight at me! Then after getting another heated blankie I fell asleep. The test took 24 minutes after that which I preceeded to fall asleep for also and then I was done. I had an amazing technician whose name was Skip and I reminded him that he had also done my bone scan a year ago. Instead of putting the IV in himself and having me have to get stuck again in the lab (I needed lab work also) he called the IV team and they put in a line, took my blood, let him inject his stuff and then pulled out the IV. It was great and I didnt have to go to the lab afterwards where there is always a long wait to have blood drawn. I almost forgot to add that due to the radioactivity of the injection I had I could not be near my son (since he is under 7 years old) for 10 hours! They like to be cautious. I was able to eat dinner at the same table with him and give him a bath because it was a short time. Another interesting thing is that your urine and other waste products are radioactive also. Very interesting, LOL.
On a side note, while I was waiting for the IV nurse to put in my catheter, I was knitting the Dr's socks [the due date for them to be finished is quickly approaching (May 23rd)]. Skip was asking me what I was making and of course the NSK (Notorious Sock Knitter) that I am had to show off my wares. I showed him the Artyarns Sock that I am making for my PS and the Jaywalkers that I am making for my DH in BMFA Henpecked Mediumweight. He was impressed but its so easy for us knitters to impress the Muggles who dont really know the difference from crochet to knitting and so on. It still made me feel good plus I got a lot done on the sock in the few moments I worked on it. I am on the gusset decreases now and its ALMOST done! The Jaywalker is number 1 and I am almost on the heel flap knitting. I love BM yarns so much (particularly the mediumweight that its a JOY to knit with and no other sock yarn can compare.
Speaking of BM yarn, I finally made a decision about what yarn to use for the shawl class I am taking in June. I probably mentioned this earlier in another post but since I am so excited I'll mention it again. I read the YARN HARLOTS blog about that gorgeous shawl she made her sick friend to help her heal and to know that there is someone out there who would make such a gorgeous knitted piece of art for her to wear. I purchased 3 skeins of Pink Granite in heavyweight and also some other colors that I will most definitely post & take pics of as soon ast they arrive! I had to frog my BM April club sock because the lace pattern was just not working with the yarn. I think the yarn has greater possibilities than that pattern offers so thats why I am choosing another pattern for it. I am going to survey what others are doing for a pattern first to get ideas. If I cant get any ideas then I am going to just pick a pattern from More Sensational Knitted Socks. I really wanted the pattern that came with the yarn to work but it doesnt in my eyes. Also it has nothing to do with me being able to do the pattern itself because I was about 4 inches into the foot already. Like I said its the yarn thats begging me for another pattern to show itself off in.
The results of the PET Scan will be ready in 72 hours.
Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful Moms out there! Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
2 comments:
Your poor son, it is bad enough feeling poorly when you are an adult, let alone being a small child and as if you didn't have enough to worry about with your scan! Glad your scan is now over and went ok and lovely to hear the medical team taking an interest in what you was knitting, most important ;-) It is a shame that you found the grasshopper pattern not working too well with the yarn, I have not started mine yet, but must admit I was thinking that I don't really like the Grasshopper pattern too much, I like the longer length one's but don't feel like I want to buy another skein, especially as the two skeins of In the navy I have bought for my DB socks are lovely but are so different from each other, I'll post pictures of them on my blog later in the week when the camera's batteries are re-charged, but whatever socks I do make with them for him I am going to need to alternate each ball on each sock, otherwise I'm going to end up with two very different socks, sorry for rambling on your blog, I'm getting carried away! Take Care Tracy x
Tracy, the Tidalwave pattern from SWTC is SOOOO easy and is going by very quickly. I highly reccommend it if you are not liking the Grasshopper pattern. Its free at www.soysilk.com under the free patterns sections with the TOFUTSIES.
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