CAT in a series of tubes

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That was a novel and not uninteresting experience, getting a CAT scan.

Fill out paperwork, get called back, phlebotomist hooks up a feed line and tapes it off, wait, get called further back, remove glasses, get on movable table, get shuttled into and out of magnetic donut.

Then the fun starts.

"The Iodine injection is going to feel a little weird. There's a chill where it goes in, then you'll get a hot flash from your head and moving downward. You may experience a metallic taste and a tiny bit of nausea, and then it will feel like you've peed yourself. You won't have. Just don't move until I tell you to."

That was actually a pretty accurate description - the flush is not quite as powerful as the niacin/beta-alanine one that says my pre-workout has kicked in, the phantom taste didn't really overpower the cough drop residue in my mouth, the nausea was "I haven't eaten in 24 hours and just drove downwind of Krispy Kreme, gimme something NOW" rather than "I just got a double wallop of a week-old restaurant dumpster" and the "wet yourself" sensation was more "my anus is attempting to impersonate the fixture for a 40 watt incandescent bulb being turned on" - it's a very *warm* feeling, just shy of unsettling.

My biggest complaint, other than the hellacious traffic getting there from my office, and then going home afterward, is that the CD with my imaging results on it only shows me the full-size shot of the first one in the series; I'm wondering if playing with Win7's compatibility modes will allow me to view the more informative shots before I take them in to the ENT for his review at my biopsy appointment on the 17th.

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/project_mayhem_/]

When I got my CAT scan for my elbow, they told me, "Try not to move for the next 35-40 minutes."
My immediate response was, "No need to worry there- I'm gonna take this time to get some sleep."

[etcet.livejournal.com]

The scan they did for my shoulder was different - they numbed me up and then shoved a big fucking needle into my shoulder in a few different places (for both the CAT and MRI; same visit), because joint tissue like cartilage and tendons and shit don't have blood flow; was that kinda like what they did for you?

[lil-m-moses.livejournal.com]

I had thought the feeling like pee thing was because I was getting my kidneys and ureters scanned. Good to know it's just the standard for the contrast.

[tygenco-x.livejournal.com]

Two out of three CT scans I've had done involved the contrast dye of oddity. Both involving the dye were chest scans. For the first one, they explained the sensations and such, second time they just asked if I'd ever had a scan with the contrast dye.

Both times with the dye, my throat burned like I was about to spit out some hellfire. I didn't mind the heat in my hands and wrists, as that was a pleasant change, and that whole "you're going to feel like you've peed yourself" feeling was just weird. After the immediate sweep of the stuff through my system--yay for knowing how fast something will go through your blood stream?--there was a lingering sensation of being slightly warmer than usual. Which was helpful, because the hospital was rather cold.

Third CT scan was a cranial one and they didn't want to do dye for it.

[miamadness15.livejournal.com]

John got so sick after doing a scan with contrast... Do they have an idea as to what is going on so far?

[etcet.livejournal.com]

Nope, that's why I had the test done.

Unfortunately, the doc who called for the test is on vacation this week (the ear/nose/throat dude) so I won't see him until he does my biopsy on the 17th, to find out of what the lumps are made - the CAT scan was to determine the lump population and location, two are readily discernible to visual/tactile examination (the large initial one just behind my chin, and one further back along the bottom of my right jaw just in front of the where lymph nodes typically are).

I *think* the latter is responding to the horse-pill antibiotics (finally), as it's definitely less tender and feels slightly less swollen; the front one has never been particularly uncomfortable, but it's essentially unchanged.