The Look On His Face...

Yesterday was quite the long day for me!

I was up bright and early to get to Sloan for 8 AM.
The day started with a PET Scan, continued with some IVIG (passive immune system), and ended with a CT scan. I left just in time for rush hour... 5pm!

It only took me 2hr 15mins to get home... oh How I love the LIE!

My route home takes me up the FDR Drive and across the Triborough Bridge... which is where today's story begins!

Somehow, my EZ-Pass fell off the dashboard and landed under the seat. Unfortunately, I don't realize this until I'm sitting at the toll booth and wondering why the gate isn't lifting! As I frantically look for the EZ-Pass a TBTA Cop (Tri-Borough Transit Authority) makes his way over to my car. This is not an unusual occurance. EZ-Passes with a weak battery usually need to be scanned manually in order for them to work.

Now the TBTA cop looked like a young guy... maybe 23ish... and seemed new on the job. As he's waiting for me to hand him my EZ-Pass, this little thing attached his belt starts Beeping in a high-low type fashion. (An Alarm) He removes this device from his belt and his face drops. His expression was confusion with a little bit of fear mixed in.

What was that beeping on his belt? It was a Radiation Detector! That's right folks... I'm radioactive!!! As you recall, I had a PET scan earlier that day. For a PET Scan they inject you with a radioactive sugar, which the machine is able to read. It's a great way for the doctors to observe metabolic activity in your body. The downside is... YOU'RE RADIOACTIVE!! In a post 9/11 world, especially near the bridges and tunnels, law enforcement is pretty keen on trying to make sure nobody sneaks a dirty bomb into the city.

I could tell from the officers face he was thinking the following: "They told us when this thing beeps, it's detecing radiation... but it's never done that before... holy **** what did I just find? Is this guy a terrorist?"... So on and so forth. The TBTBA officer nervously asks if I have anything in my trunk. I think for a second and realize what he's holding in his hand must be the radiation detector. I ask him, and he confirms it. I chuckle and respond "Oh Don't worry... It's just me!"

This doesn't ease his fears. I then show him my hospital card, bracelet, and the medical wrap on my arm from where the IV was. At that point, he wasn't sure what to do. I could see him looking around for any colleagues near by that he could flag over... unfortuntaely no one was close enough. He reluctantly allowed me to continue and I laughed the entire way home.

Anyways... thats my funny story for the day.

My Day At Sloan...

These scans were the routine PET/CT scans that make sure I'm still cancer free. For those of you who have never had a CT scan, you're usually required to drink oral contrast... ONE LITER of oral contrast! After almost two years of dealing with these scans every 2 months, I guess you could say I used to chugging back the stuff. They try to make it palatable by mixing it with Crystal Light. Needless to say, I shudder whenever I just see a crystal light package.

Now you also need to drink the contrast for a PET scan. Usually, we're able to schedule the scans back to back so I only need to drink the nasty stuff once! Unfortuantely, yesterday I wasn't that lucky. The PET Scan was in the morning at 9AM, and the CT Scan was in the afternoon at 4pm. So yesterday I was force fed 2 Liters of Raspberry Crystal Light. I still cringe just thinking about it.

Other then that, everything went off without a hitch, and I'm doing fine!
Next week we have another T-Cell Count! Look for results on Friday!