Before
I begin, just a quick note to say that my second drain came out yesterday - yay! No more tubes, fluids, or fanny
packs!
So, I have been given a laundry list of to-do's before stating chemo. Today was the MUGA scan. Apparently some of the chemo drugs can cause damage to your heart and its ability to pump blood properly. Before chemo starts, they take some baseline images so that they can monitor any changes throughout treatment. It's like an x-ray or MRI I guess. A radioactive material called a tracer was injected into my vein which binds to the red blood cells and makes it easier to see how blood moved through my heart. I had to lay on a table and they took about three pictures, and that was about it. One of my least invasive procedures! Cake. As I was getting up to leave, I asked the nuclear technician if there were any side effects I needed to worry about from the stuff that was injected into me or from the procedure itself.
"Well, if you have children I'd like you to stay at least three feet away from them for 24 hours. No holding or cuddling the baby, no hugging. Since children haven't had a lot of exposure to radiation, we like to limit contact as much as possible. I'm not as concerned about adults. Your husband can sleep in the same bed with you, but I wouldn't recommend cuddling, or spooning for tonight."
So, I have been given a laundry list of to-do's before stating chemo. Today was the MUGA scan. Apparently some of the chemo drugs can cause damage to your heart and its ability to pump blood properly. Before chemo starts, they take some baseline images so that they can monitor any changes throughout treatment. It's like an x-ray or MRI I guess. A radioactive material called a tracer was injected into my vein which binds to the red blood cells and makes it easier to see how blood moved through my heart. I had to lay on a table and they took about three pictures, and that was about it. One of my least invasive procedures! Cake. As I was getting up to leave, I asked the nuclear technician if there were any side effects I needed to worry about from the stuff that was injected into me or from the procedure itself.
"Well, if you have children I'd like you to stay at least three feet away from them for 24 hours. No holding or cuddling the baby, no hugging. Since children haven't had a lot of exposure to radiation, we like to limit contact as much as possible. I'm not as concerned about adults. Your husband can sleep in the same bed with you, but I wouldn't recommend cuddling, or spooning for tonight."
I don't know, that might be something I'd share with patients before they come in? I'm sure it's overly cautious, but still! Here's the message I left for John: "Umm, Houston, we have a bit of a problem. Seems like I'm going to be radioactive for a day. If the bed is glowing when you come in tonight, you might want to think about sleeping on the couch. Love you, bye!"
Had to be a little more creative with C: "Hey Buddy. You know what I did today? I had this really funny test and now I can't touch anybody and nobody can touch me! Isn't that funny? I have to stay in my room and I can't touch anyone until tomorrow morning! I think I hear Grandma watching Bob the Builder - go check it out!"
The first thing the baby does when he sees me at the end of the day is speed crawl over to me, pull himself up my pant leg and start whining piteously, "Mama, Mama, Mama," until I pick him up. Good thing Grandma is around.
In the end, it was actually pretty funny. John, of course, milked it for all it was worth and said he'd have to pass my food under the bedroom door so as to not risk contamination. I had dinner on a tv tray in my room with my laptop, and C waved at me under the door. I came out of solitary when the kids were in bed at 7:30pm and made sure to give John a big hug.
C came into our room the next morning and asked if the test was over now and if he was allowed to give me a hug. How's that for cute?
Your radiocative kid is pretty clever!
ReplyDeleteOMG that picture is too cute!
ReplyDelete