radioactive (wo)man!

i had my PET/CT scan yesterday. it was quite the experience. i wasn't allowed to eat that morning or drink anything besides water. after i arrived at the doctor's office and filled out a questionnaire, they hooked me up with a saline IV. the tech warned me i would be injected with radioactive material in order to produce a better picture for the PET scan.

so, the tech left to go get the radioactive material, and when he returned, he was all hazmat-ed up (not quite THAT bad), and was carrying a little lead box that looked like a lunch box. he unlocked the lead box and i peered inside. the lead walls of the box were at least two inches thick. inside the box was a large syringe encased in lead. needless to say, i was a little nervous. all this lead protection exists to protect the carrier of the radioactive material, and they want to inject this inside me??

after i was injected, i was left to sit for an hour. then, the tech returned and took me into the scan room. the PET scan basically involved me laying very still for about 30 minutes while in a small, narrow, enclosed tube (read: lindsay has a slight case of claustrophobia).

it should take a few days for the doctor to get back to me about whether the tumor on my lung has changed shape or size. until then, i get to do my favorite thing: WAIT.

out.

- L

setbacks

i had a setback last week. i'm not exactly sure why, but i woke up one morning vomiting. it continued for about the next three hours, consistently. i threw up at least 30 times that day. i was unable to eat anything or drink much, so i ended up going almost 40 hours with no food or water.

since then, i have been very weak and tired again, almost as bad as it was 6 months ago. i've had the bad pains in my legs again, and a constant feeling of lightheadedness. i basically drive only to and from work, for fear of becoming too lightheaded while driving. i'm not sure if i should just give it time to get better, or make an appointment. given the amount of $ i already owe in health care bills, i'm leaning towards the former :)

out.
- L

good news and bad news

i received the results of my blood test from the pulmonary specialist. the tests were for any traces of a viral, bacterial or fungal infection that would have caused the tumor on my lung. the doctor was expecting that i had valley fever in the past, as it is commonly found in people who live in desert climates (read: my hometown of phoenix, az) and has been known to leave abnormalities on the lungs of the infected. my test results were negative.

good news: tests came back negative, meaning i've never had valley fever or any of the other infections we were testing for.

bad news: that still doesn't explain what the hell this is. i'm due for a pet scan in about a month, so hopefully that will provide more answers.

i also received the results of the blood test my PCP ordered. we did a comprehensive blood panel plus iron and vitamin d.

good news: rbcs are normal, so i'm not anemic. vitamin d is normal again. iron made a huge jump from last time, so i'm not deficient. originally my iron was 3 (extremely low), now its 47.
normal iron for a woman my age is somewhere between 15-250. so, i'm actually normal now. well, at least in terms of iron. ;)

bad news: i still don't feel normal. so, whatever symptoms i'm experiencing that i thought were being caused by iron deficiency anemia, must be the result of something else. i still don't know what.

as a result of having very limited activity over the last 8 months, my muscles are actually starting to atrophy. i am actually physically incapable of doing much these days. i've been trying to increase my physical activity by walking, but even that is too much some days.

out.
- L