Fingers Crossed because it's "Scan Day"

Wednesday - May 15, 2013

Yes, it's the crack of dawn.  Perfect time to hop in the car, head west, and set "watchful waiting" in motion!  All this waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting is NOT in my DNA.

Time to ACT!  I am so ready to get some answers, to hear another "all clear, No-Evidence-of-Disease" but ... in the end today will simply be another hurry up and wait ... and wait ... and wait ... because of course I will have no answers today, just tests.

Answers will come in 147 hours (but who's counting?)

Off to Richmond and VCU for my 5th PET scan and my 6th (?) head and orbit MRI.

Fingers crossed for "unremarkable."  Fingers crossed for "ordinary."
Fingers crossed for being able to breath again.... in 147 hours .... 

Sleeping so poorly, antsy, anxious, nervous, ready .... but not really worried on an intellectual level  :)  I feel fine.
(But can I trust my body?  My "feeling fine"?)

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Calmer now in the bright sunshine of a crisp spring day  :)

Home.  These noninvasive scans are completely passive and pain free.  The only requirement from me is calm and stillness.  I managed to free my mind from the impending "news" and to nap deeply during the hour's enforced inactivity (in darkness) that allows the nuclear tracer to distribute evenly through my body.  Then the rest of the time is lying completely still, covered in blankets.  My head is braced and caged for the MRI but otherwise I am unencumbered.  Wait, I take that back - I am also strapped down tight in velcro from hip to port (collar bone) during the PET.  I suppose that by "unencumbered" I mean I am not hooked up by tubes from port to an infusion pump.  I feel less encumbered even though I am required to be completely inert.  Strange how the mind works....

Anyway, no bodily distress just LOTS of time to think.  I chose to focus on the positive -- tomorrow's trip to Blacksburg to see Jonathan for his Phi Beta Kappa initiation and Virginia Tech graduation,Megan's upcoming 12K run in San Fran, and the fun and exploration that Joe and I will enjoy in our relocation to San Francisco.  Owning my perfectionism, I confess to also mulling over refinements in and additions to my new wiki  :)

Kudos to VCU radiology!  They achieved a new record for efficiency at the hospital today.  I lobbied hard (and successfully) for a single IV to be used for both scans AND I literally walked from the PET scan machine to the MRI across the hall - no wait!  Amazing!

140 hours to go ....