Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Ultra Sound and CAT scans were performed today

Today I spent the morning at the radiology lab of Medina Hospital. First, at 8 a.m., I was given an ultra sound--the technician spread some jelly on my tummy and then went to work pushing buttons on a futuristic-looking machine while I followed instructions to hold my breath at times. My job was to lie still. The procedure took about 30 minutes. They reminded me I'd had an ultra sound my the second visit to the ER. It must have been simplified because I was sedated and didn't know a thing.

Next I moved on to the CAT Scan department where I was given a huge plastic container of liquid (half a gallon?) with the order to drink it down. The more I took the worse it tasted, a metallic taste overcoming the lemonade flavor that's supposed to make it palatable. Finally I told the tech I felt nauseated--one of the conditions that brought me to emergency in the first place.

Two CAT scans were necessary for the upper and lower torso. I'm familiar with such machines from watching House and seeing Hugh Laurie and assistants looking on. It's a huge donut. Instructions came in a recorded male voice, perhaps a robot, but his grammar had not been perfected. First he said, 'breathe in." Then he said, "breathe normal." He was not programmed to know that the adverb normally should modify the verb breathe. Adverbs modify verbs; adjectives modify nouns.

All was done by 10:30. I called Paul on my cell and he came to the hospital within 15 minutes. We had some soup and rolls in the cafeteria (I hadn't eaten anything since 6 p.m. the day before), followed by a little shopping.

2 comments:

Village Green said...

Sounds like the tests weren't that stressful. It's waiting for the results that is the pain. Let me know when you know something.

Philip Grant Duke said...

Well, the daughter of Philip Grant comes from a line of strong, hardworking Brits who have a stiff upper lip and can stave off most anything!