in the bathroom . . . I've had so many scans, injections of isotopes, beams, rays . . . Wednesday was my day for tests at Good Sam. First I had a bone density scan, then got my injection for a nuclear bone scan. For that one, a radioactive material is mixed with some other agents and injected into my bloodstream. After a few hours, it concentrates in the areas of my bones where there has been recent activity. If those evil little cancer cells had spread to my bones, this would help detect them. I was concerned that it might be masked by my arthritis--that the scan wouldn't be able to distinguish between the two types of activity. The techs reassured me that cancer tends to start in the bones themselves, not the joints, so it shows up as a stripe on a rib, for example. There is no question that having breast cancer is not a good thing, but I am fascinated by all the things I'm learning about the technology, about what we've figured out about cancer, and so on.
Anyway, after they injected me with radioactivity, I had lunch with a friend and went back to be scanned. I lay on this narrow, slighly curved table, and they moved things around me to scan. Given that I've been getting no sleep, I snoozed through most of it--the techs told me I snored loudly. Good thing I'm used to being embarrassed. After that I got my chest X-Rays and went home for another nap.
Thursday was my last day in the office, and I wound up there until 2 am trying to finish things up. At least I didn't have any more radiation.
Oh, and in case you're wondering . . . that's duck breast a la orange.
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