Follow-up CT Scanby Angie

Thu
19 Jun 2008
9:06 pm
1

A couple of weeks after my CT Scan in February, I got a call from Dr. Murphy to inform me of the results:  No major clots, but there is some clotting in the artificial conduit that was added to my circulatory plumbing last May.  He is certain now that I need to begin a Coumadin regimen – I expect to start after I meet with him in July.  Interestingly, the CT scan also identified two little “swollen patches” on the surface of my heart that completely baffle Dr. Murphy and his colleagues.  They don’t think the spots are problematic, but he wanted a follow-up CT scan in a couple of months to check on them again – if they’re changing at all, there might cause for concern.

So!  Today was the fateful day and I made my way once again to LPCH: to the eternally long waiting room in the basement, and to the tiny, hot unit that houses the CT machine right in the midst of a bunch of construction.  In fact, the construction cramped things to such a degree that the nurse who placed the IV in my ankle had to sit on the floor to do so, while I sat in a rolling desk chair and tried to hold still.  Luckily, it only too two pokes this time.  Once the IV was in, I had to lie flat on the scanning table, be hooked up to an EKG machine, and hold my breath for 7-, 15-, and 20-second intervals, as the radiologist directed.  When they injected the dye – oh, my stars!  It’s hard to describe…  I felt overwhelmingly hot and suffocated, but the sensation was all coming from the inside out.  It was very bizzare.  In any case, I lived through it!

Now it’s back to waiting for results.  Blah.

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  1. Momma Hoffman
    8:27 PM on June 22nd, 2008

    Wow, Angie – since i know how hard any kind of heat is for you, i can’t begin to imagine what it would be like to feel the “enemy heat” coming from right within you! I’m glad it’s over, and certainly hope scans, pokes, and testing of any other kind can just be DONE for you for a long while now. Take it easy this week, okay? – and let your body bounce back as best it can from all it has been called upon to deal with lately. Love you!!!

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