Well, my abdominal adhesion surgery is tomorrow. I survived the pre-surg CATscan, barely... I never had IV dye before for one of these... always just had to drink the lovely barium liquid. This time both kinds of contrast were ordered. I had to stop by the office and pick up the barium before my appointment. This office gave me a powder that i had to mix with 2 cups of water with instruction to drink 2 1/2 hours before my scheduled scan. Eeeew. Okay, so 3 hours before my appointment, I mixed up the barium and stuck it in the fridge hoping the cold would make it easier to deal with. It actually wasn't too bad. It had a faint vanilla taste to it. Of course, I couldn't drink 2 cups worth, but i managed to get almost half of it down...
At my appointment, I let them know that i have a teeny tiny tummy and couldn't drink all of the barium... The tech said that was no problem and gave me anther cup full... ugh! Thankfully, the tech told me "Just take a sip or two since you don't have much capacity." Whew! I love her!
I pointed out that the hole in the machine looked a tad small. Ummm... the last time I had a scan, I was in a big open kinda thing. Is this going to work? The tech giggled and said "Hon, you don't need an open machine, you'll fit in this now." Heh. Duh. I sometimes forget that I'm quite a bit smaller than I was...
Got up on the table all bariumed up and ready to go... got one scan, then she said it was time for the IV. She asked if i had IV contrast before, and i said nope. Then the quote was "In about 50 seconds, you might feel a little warmth."
Ok. warmth might be nice, it's like 20 degrees outside. Warmth is a good thing.... Wrong! Understatement! In 50 seconds my veins were ON FIRE. Everything felt like it was on fire. WTH? So, being the trooper that I am, I held still for the scan... when the tech came back in the room so asked if I was alright...
Thanks to the incredible discomfort along with some slight tongue swelling and blotchy patches ll over, I had discovered that I am indeed allergic to IV contrast. Luckily, it's a slight allergy and didn't cause anything other than "mild" side effects.
Damn, can I get off of this ride now. I don't like this, and I wanna go home...
At my appointment, I let them know that i have a teeny tiny tummy and couldn't drink all of the barium... The tech said that was no problem and gave me anther cup full... ugh! Thankfully, the tech told me "Just take a sip or two since you don't have much capacity." Whew! I love her!
I pointed out that the hole in the machine looked a tad small. Ummm... the last time I had a scan, I was in a big open kinda thing. Is this going to work? The tech giggled and said "Hon, you don't need an open machine, you'll fit in this now." Heh. Duh. I sometimes forget that I'm quite a bit smaller than I was...
Got up on the table all bariumed up and ready to go... got one scan, then she said it was time for the IV. She asked if i had IV contrast before, and i said nope. Then the quote was "In about 50 seconds, you might feel a little warmth."
Ok. warmth might be nice, it's like 20 degrees outside. Warmth is a good thing.... Wrong! Understatement! In 50 seconds my veins were ON FIRE. Everything felt like it was on fire. WTH? So, being the trooper that I am, I held still for the scan... when the tech came back in the room so asked if I was alright...
Thanks to the incredible discomfort along with some slight tongue swelling and blotchy patches ll over, I had discovered that I am indeed allergic to IV contrast. Luckily, it's a slight allergy and didn't cause anything other than "mild" side effects.
Damn, can I get off of this ride now. I don't like this, and I wanna go home...
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