Yup, I said radioactive! OK , so that is going a bit extreme, but I was injected with a radioactive tracer today.
I am still dealing with pain in my right ankle from my running related injury. I have yet to try running on it again, as I still have pain when walking. The Dr said to call if I was still dealing with the pain mid month or so (as I told him of my desire to run the Alzheimer's 5k on the 25th) and he would order a bone scan. Yesterday I called and the appointment was set for today at noon at the Nuclear Medicine department of the local hospital. Luckily they told me that it was on the 3rd floor when they set the appointment as I could not find Nuclear Medicine on any of the directories.
When I arrived on the 3rd floor I headed towards the sign for Nuclear Medicine (luckily I saw one!). When I got to the sign I looked around; there was a registration desk for Respiratory Therapy on one side of the sign and another for the Heart Center..but only one door with a small sign indicating that on the other side was the Nuclear Medicine department. I was unsure as to whether I should just walk in or if I had to register somewhere first. Luckily my confusion was obvious to someone passing by, because I was offered help. It turned out that I just needed to head through the door, no registration needed.
Through the door was a dark room, with odd, large x-ray style machines. I was asked to take a seat while they waited to finish with the patient before me. I was there to do the first part of the procedure...an injection with a radioactive tracer and the "before shots", I would have to return at 3 to have the "after shots" taken. Luckily the injection was no more painful than a blood draw (they put it directly in the vein in the arm, as opposed to the typical shot in the arm) and there were no weird side effects from the injection. It did seem odd to think that I was being injected with something radioactive, and they carried the tracer to the table in a metal box..kinda freaky if you think about it too long.
When I came back at 3 they took about 10-15 minutes to take scans of my bones, which were odd looking on the computer screen. I could see my feet/ankles and they were all lit up with white dots...I am assuming that is the tracer showing up. I will get the results early next week, so we shall see...Hopefully I will return to running soon, injury free (and free from any more radioactivity)!
When I arrived on the 3rd floor I headed towards the sign for Nuclear Medicine (luckily I saw one!). When I got to the sign I looked around; there was a registration desk for Respiratory Therapy on one side of the sign and another for the Heart Center..but only one door with a small sign indicating that on the other side was the Nuclear Medicine department. I was unsure as to whether I should just walk in or if I had to register somewhere first. Luckily my confusion was obvious to someone passing by, because I was offered help. It turned out that I just needed to head through the door, no registration needed.
Through the door was a dark room, with odd, large x-ray style machines. I was asked to take a seat while they waited to finish with the patient before me. I was there to do the first part of the procedure...an injection with a radioactive tracer and the "before shots", I would have to return at 3 to have the "after shots" taken. Luckily the injection was no more painful than a blood draw (they put it directly in the vein in the arm, as opposed to the typical shot in the arm) and there were no weird side effects from the injection. It did seem odd to think that I was being injected with something radioactive, and they carried the tracer to the table in a metal box..kinda freaky if you think about it too long.
When I came back at 3 they took about 10-15 minutes to take scans of my bones, which were odd looking on the computer screen. I could see my feet/ankles and they were all lit up with white dots...I am assuming that is the tracer showing up. I will get the results early next week, so we shall see...Hopefully I will return to running soon, injury free (and free from any more radioactivity)!
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