So, today, I had the first of many tests. The first test was the MUGA scan. It is basically a scan of the heart to see how the heart is beating. The Adriamycin drug (A) of the ABVD chemo treatment can affect the heart. So, to make sure that I can take the A drug, it's necessary to see how the heart functions.
I went to the Radiology lab at Rose Medical to get this done. The first thing that David, the technician, did was to stick a line into the vein of my right arm. Once the line was in, he could extract or add anything. So, they extracted about 3-4 cc's of blood. Then I had to wait about 20 minutes for him to radiate the blood. This basically tags the blood with some radio isotopes so that they can see how the blood is flowing through the heart by counting the radiated blood cells. Once the blood was radiated, David reinserted the blood into my bloodstream via the line.
There were two ten minute scans. For both, I was lying on a bed while I was positioned under the scanning plate. For the first scan, it takes a look to see how the blood flows. The scanning plate is positioned at an angle of 45 degrees. On the screen, it looks like a big blob, but it still gives the best information. The second scan is used to see how the heart itself beats. The scanning plate is positioned parallel to the chest. I wasn't paying too close attention to the screens this time, but from what I did see, I still couldn't tell what was really going on.
I would have been bored if David wasn't so chatty...so that made it go much faster.
It was a pretty painless (except for the line) procedure.
I went to the Radiology lab at Rose Medical to get this done. The first thing that David, the technician, did was to stick a line into the vein of my right arm. Once the line was in, he could extract or add anything. So, they extracted about 3-4 cc's of blood. Then I had to wait about 20 minutes for him to radiate the blood. This basically tags the blood with some radio isotopes so that they can see how the blood is flowing through the heart by counting the radiated blood cells. Once the blood was radiated, David reinserted the blood into my bloodstream via the line.
There were two ten minute scans. For both, I was lying on a bed while I was positioned under the scanning plate. For the first scan, it takes a look to see how the blood flows. The scanning plate is positioned at an angle of 45 degrees. On the screen, it looks like a big blob, but it still gives the best information. The second scan is used to see how the heart itself beats. The scanning plate is positioned parallel to the chest. I wasn't paying too close attention to the screens this time, but from what I did see, I still couldn't tell what was really going on.
I would have been bored if David wasn't so chatty...so that made it go much faster.
It was a pretty painless (except for the line) procedure.
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