Chalk....anyone? anyone? Just kidding

I had to make that the title because I told my Mom I was going too.  I went to have a CT Scan of my torso today.  They warned me I had to use contrast.  I assumed it would be the milky chalk stuff.  I was happy but still  not thrilled when they brought me out the "Crystal Light" drink.  I seriously do think they put lemon Crystal Light in there.  I had about 30 minutes to drink it and then had to wait about 45 minutes before the scan.  All this on an empty stomach.

So I sat in the waiting room trying to choke it down.  The lady told me to drink it slower to avoid getting nauseated.  But you have to clip along with the drinking so I tried to do both.  Thank goodness for social media.  I posted on Facebook and almost instantly, my Myositis friend Shawna, who was a nurse, posted to use a straw so you don't taste it so much.  That worked like a charm!  Who said social media isn't a good thing??  Thank you Shawna.

Once I went back, they told me I would be getting an IV too!  That was news to me.  It is the same contrast IV I had in March.  You know the one that makes my butt hole get very warm all day?  Yeah....again.  Well really the rush of warmth is all over but it stays in the butt longer.  It is a very weird sensation. 

So since they were doing my chest, abdomen, and pelvis, I had to put my arms over my head but keep my left arm  straight as possible for the contrast IV.  They said if my arm is bent, the machine will automatically shut off!  No thanks.  So I did my best to lay there about 20 minutes while I slid in and out and in and out and breath and don't breath and breath and don't breath...over and over.  Not too troublesome...not my favorite thing to do either.  But it is a necessary evil.

I came home to work but I have to drink tons of water as the contrast is difficult on your kidneys.  I also started eating.  My trick is to eat bread type products as I feel it gives the contrast something to "grip" on it's way out.  I was surprisingly tired today and still feel pretty icky but I am doing okay and glad it all is over for now.

Because I am a nosey sucker, I did go out to the IHC website and read my results.  From what I can see, it doesn't appear I have any new lymphomas.  I have one lymph node present that is larger but it hasn't grown since 2009.  My lungs were cloudy - that was not present in 2009 and it appears I  might have a start of a fatty liver.  Of course, I am not a medical professional so I will just use this information as just that....information.  I see my Oncologist Dr. L next Thursday.  He will tell me the real story.

Obviously we didn't do my face again which is where my current tumor is. They try to keep radiation load controlled as possible.  He felt we can find the face tumors easily.  The eyebrow tumor feels larger to me but still not able to be seen normally as I walk around.  We will see what he says about that.  I'm not even going to type out the options we last talked about as those were awhile ago and things could have changed.