I hate, and I mean HATE, I.V.'s. When I went for the contrast MRI the tech blew a vein in my left hand then got a vein in my right hand. When I had surgery, they had to poke me three times to get an IV in my left hand. It fell out 2 days later and I had to get another one in my right hand. Then I go for the contrast CT scan today and yes, another vein in blown in my left hand and the IV is painfully placed elsewhere in the left hand.
After the IV was successfully placed, I was called back to the CT room where two techs positioned me on the table. I had to lay on a blue balloon type thing that they molded to my legs. My right leg was straight while my left leg (the good one) was bent to the left. Once they were happy with my placement, and the chief radiology doctor gave the green light, they removed air from the balloon to stabilize the mold. Then along with my head radiology tech, they proceeded to mark both legs with a blue skin paint. They then scanned the leg; I'm assuming as a baseline.Once they were satisfied, along comes the contrast dye. The contrast dye contains a metal, and as it was fed to the IV my mouth tasted something like pennies. Remember when you were a child and you would put coins in your mouth? Why? I don't know. I can't remember. But then while you may not have done that, I know I did. As soon as the dye was injected, they ran another scan on my leg. It lasted about 4 minutes. Then I was done!
Before I left, though, the tech put stickers on the skin markings. And I was explicitly told to be sure the markings stay on my legs. Because if the markings wore off between now and the start of radiation I would get the pleasure of getting another contrast CT scan. And yes, another IV. So you know I was seriously motivated to keep the stickers on and the markings intact.
But two hours later and four stickers are falling off. I call but by then the office is about to close for the day. So, they tell me to come in tomorrow. But then two more hours later, the markings are fading. So, I start stressing. All I'm thinking is "I.V." And I start freaking. I do NOT want another IV! So I call back. And embarrassingly, I start crying on the phone. I tell the nurse, what is going on and that I really don't want another IV. Naturally, she is very soothing and reassuring. "It's okay," she tells me. "Can I use a Sharpie?" I ask, "because I don't want another IV." She tells me, yes and that when I go in tomorrow (because they have to make sure the Sharpie marks are correctly placed), they will give me a skin marker so I can refresh the markings daily. Crisis averted!
Oh, but here's the fun part. I get to refresh the markings daily for the next two months.Radiation officially starts the 20th, and it will last 6 weeks. So for the next eight weeks I get to have these non-permanent blue markings up and down my legs. Well. Things could be worse.
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