Jul 16th, 2008, 12:03 PM
Jeanette's Medical Adventures Part IV: The Gall Bladder Scan
As you are well aware, I have an unexplained stomach problem. The doctor decided to give me a gall bladder scan to see what was up.
I couldn't eat or drink anything after midnight the night before, so I made sure to eat a great deal and drink a lot of water so I wouldn't wake up thirsty in the middle of the night and not be able to drink. Strangely, I dreamed that I woke up, made breakfast, ate it, and then realized that I wasn't supposed to eat and that I had to cancel the test. Luckily, it was all a dream, and I woke up for real. I was allowed to brush my teeth and rinse my mouth out, but my mouth still felt dry, so I sucked on some Oragel sticks that I had left over from when I had a toothache get rid of the dry mouth.
I was late the exam, and they called the house to see where I was, but they weren't annoyed or anything. They stuck a big needle into my arm (a really big needle, like a harpoon. I usually don't have a problem with needles but that one really hurt) and they prepared an IV. They then had me lie down on the table and strapped me in, and made sure I was comfortable. They told me I could scratch with my arms if I wanted to, but not to move my body. They then slid me into the machine. The scan took about an hour, and they told me I could sleep through it, which I did for most of it.
I could see the monitor where I was being scanned, but all that was really visible was an indistinct black and white shape. Bo-ring.
Finally, they woke me up, and told me that they needed to inject me with something to see my gallbladder contract. They warned me that it would me nauseus, and I assured them that I was plenty used to nausea by now.
It did indeed make me nauseus. It also made my stomach feel full and I burped a little. The IV burned as it was injected, but it was all over fairly quickly and the nausea went away. They then took out the needle and bandage my arm up, and had me lie there for a little while longer. Then they had me stand up, and rebandaged my arm as the gauze was soaked with blood from that giant needle wound. Yuck.
I went home and ate breakfast, and I feel fine now. Sorry this isn't a terribly exciting story, but if and when the gall bladder scan comes back negative, they're going to give me a colonoscopy, and that'll really be a thrilling adventure. They should have the results back in around 24 hours.
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