Quick Update 10/8

A whole lot of shit has gone down in just a short amount of time. Time flies when you are having fun...NOT.  This morning started out the usual busy mom way but once the kids got carted to various activities I had to call the insurance company again to make sure I could get the PET/CT scan covered. I went straight to the source and talked to the Imaging Review board (that sounds more official than it is since my insurance company outsources their diagnostic authorizations to a third party). The representative said that they needed a Peer-to-Peer consult with Dr. McAndrew. Oh right, a doctor who runs one of the largest oncology practices on the West Coast has time to call insurance companies for approvals? I told them that if it helps we were waiting for the report on my bone scan which showed a hot spot so once that came in I'm sure they wouldn't need to even talk to her... I left voice messages and sent emails to Dr. McAndrews nurse and her scheduling coordinator then I left to get my MRI.

Here's some complaining - I am tired of getting poked for IV's. The nurse at St. John's that did my IV for the bone scan was awesome. No problems whatsoever. I wish she was there today. Instead I had a younger woman who didn't look as experienced. She kept flicking my veins (visualize how you would flick a bug off your arm because that is exactly what she was doing to my veins) then wiping my arm profusely with tiny alcohol pads because she said "that sometimes that helps the good ones pop out"... I tell nurses that since I can only have IVs on my right arm and have small veins there (and everyone always goes for the small one in the crook of my arm) that if possible PLEASE AVOID the small ones.  Anyway, she ended up going for the same small vein but further down my arm. I suppose I look rather dense and maybe she thought I wouldn't figure it out. Hey Lady, I'm on to you!!! Long story short after IV insertion I get the breast MRI - the whole time my heart is beating wildly in my head and my attempts to meditate and drown out the loud banging machine (felt louder than the first time) with soothing thoughts were futile. The whole time I couldn't stop thinking that it was going to hurt when the gadolinium was thrust into my tiny little vein. It shoots from a machine and it isn't exactly slow or gentle. I should not have been thinking about it because it was as if I willed it to happen. I don't think I have telekinetic powers but tomorrow I'm going to NOT give in to my anxiety and fear and I'm going to WILL it the other way, that all is well and that all will be just smooth. That being said, it really is so hard to do. I wish I was stronger sometimes. I mean, crud, I am totally getting poked a ton the past few weeks and I do NOT like it. I don't, I don't.

Wow, that really wasn't making a long story short, so to make a long story even longer, the injection happens at the end of the scan, which is about 25 minutes after sitting on the machine with arms up over your head. The injection happens and it hurt. I mean it felt really wrong. I told the technician to stop but there is nothing he could do since the injection pump was fully released. Instead it bubbled under my skin and leaked out. This is called intravenous extravasation, a new term I learned today.  He ran out and said he wanted to do the last five minutes in hopes that he could still complete the study. So I sat there another seven minutes for him to do so and before I left to be checked out by the nurse he said that he thought there was enough contrast in my system to complete the study. Whew...but the story doesn't end there because he was WRONG. I got a call from them two hours later. The whole study has to be repeated. They messed up!!!

I had to go home, keep my arm elevated and under a heat pad because it was swollen like I had lymphedema.  It looked gross, my mom asked if we could just pop it like we would a zit. That was funny...if only it were possible!  Speaking of learning new terms. Today my mom and I took Abby to school and since I needed to keep my arm raised I had my arm rested on my mom's shoulder like she was my buddy and I was laughing calling her "pal" and "chum" and she said that chum is what they feed sharks at the aquarium. WHO KNEW?!?!?!  According to the urban dictionary she is correct. You learn something new every day!

As for my other new vocabulary word, extravasation. Check this out from Livestrong.com:

Vascular Access  -  Gadolinium is administered through a peripheral intravenous line. According to the ACR, not all MR technologists are qualified to place such lines. In these cases, lines can be placed by a registered nurse or physician. Part of placing the line involves the assessment of the size and patency (blood flow) of the vein. In some cases, blood vessels have ruptured, resulting in extravasation of gadolinium and severe damage to the underlying tissue. Although the incidence of this complication is low--about 0.3 to 0.4 percent of MRI studies according to a 2001 survey in the American Journal of Roentgenology--surgical removal of dead tissue is often required, and some degree of scarring is inevitable. As a result, some institutions have adopted policies discouraging the use of the small veins in the hands and feet.

Bone scan results came back. There is a flare up in my spinious process near T4 but it is NOT in my spine. The report said it was not a likely place for a tumor to be and was more likely from a trauma. I hope it is from yoga or rolling around on the floor with the kids. The PET/CT tomorrow will show us more but the good news is that it doesn't appear to be in my bones. That was the only hot spot and since it wasn't conclusive the insurance company HAS to approve my PET/CT. I go for that tomorrow morning at 8:30am.  THEN I get to go back to Tower St. John's to REPEAT the fucking breast MRI. I requested to do it the same day as the PET/CT because then I will already have a working IV in my arm that I can keep for them. I better remember to ask if they use the same IVs so that Tower Oncology and Tower St. John's can use the same IV port. I am happy to have the good news, even if not conclusive, about the bone scan. More tomorrow!!!

Thank you everyone for all the love and support. I really need it right now. XOXO