Messed Up One Test by Laughing

I am not a morning person, so I wasn't very happy when the alarm went off at 5:30AM and all I could have for breakfast was a cup of water. But I was looking forward to passing these tests and knowing for sure that I will have surgery on May 20.

Today was a nice cool rainy day, in the high 50s, which reminded me of summer in Seattle ;^)

For the PET Scan, this student nurse did a great job starting an IV in my arm so she could give me sugary radioactive saline. When the syringe with the radioactive stuff arrived, it was in its own little impressive lead-shielded container but no one had to put on a lead apron or anything. I had to sit around for an hour waiting to become radioactive enough, so I said the rosary and then finished reading a romance novel.

The PET Scan iteself went fine. I am a teeny bit claustrophobic but luckily what makes me anxious isn't being jammed into giant tight medical equipment but being trapped in small crowded waiting rooms or stuck in line with too many people at Costco.

When it was all over, I bid my student nurse a pleasant goodbye and headed for the elevators and my next test. But then I realized that I still had the IV plug in my arm. So I had to talk to the receptionist, who had to track down my student nurse, who dragged me back down a quarter of a mile of corridors to the treatment room and removed the IV. Hope she didn't get in trouble for that.

The PFT (pulmonary function test) was next. The technician, Ray, kindly let me wolf down a granola bar and more water before we started. I have done spirometry tests before at the asthma doctor, but this guy was much more serious about it. I think I did the hard test six times, and the easy test three times. Plus he clipped my nose shut so all my air flow would go through the machine. And he made me laugh which messed up my ability to "blow, blow, blow, blow, don't stop, keep blowing!" The interesting part is that taking four puffs of albuterol didn't really have much of a positive impact on my numbers. (Well, I found it interesting.)

I do not know how long it will be before I hear the results.

Patsy and Omer arrive tomorrow! I must go make up the guest room now. I am so glad that my parents are coming. Patsy is addicted to Animal Crossing, and because Omer is a Good Husband, he is carrying her Wii onto the plane so she can play while she is here. Apparently there is a lot to do to keep her town going and earn more bells (I have no idea), and she doesn't want to run the chance of getting cockroaches in her house because she stayed away too long taking care of me and Lou!