HIDA scan went well today...

[Guest guest]

Well, first off, it was nothing like what I expected. I thought I was

going to be lying on a table for a couple hours, in some kind of cat

scan-like machine. ummm.. since I had no idea what to expect, I even

shaved my legs in case they made me wear a gown *grin*

I checked in at the desk, a woman took me into a cubicle and gave me

the injection of the radioactive stuff. Then she said they would take

a picture once every 15 minutes, for an hour, and that between

pictures I was free to do whatever I wanted, go for a walk, etc, as

long as I was back in my room at the 15 minute mark. I didn't have to

wear a gown, but the weather was totally gorgeous today so I was

wearing shorts, so shaving my legs was worth it

The first 15 minutes went fine, they took a pic, that was when the

stuff was going into my liver. About 5 minutes later I suddenly had

sharp pains on the right side of my abdomen, right under my ribs, and

I started freaking out, because they were exactly like the pains I had

when I had my major attack, so I thought another attack was coming on.

Turns out that's when the dye was starting to go into my gallbladder,

so that confirmed (in my mind, anyway) that there is definitely

something going on with the gallbladder. Luckily, the pain only

lasted about 15 minutes, then faded away, and it never got really

severe, not like it was back in July. But it was the exact same

location, and exact same type of pain, so I am now pretty convinced

that that attack had to do with my gallbladder, not my pancreas.

The other 4 attacks I have had (which two doctors told me was just

acid reflux) were all in the same spot, right smack in the middle of

my abdomen, and the GI doc told me the other day that those were not

acid reflux related pains, that that pain was precisely where the

" thing " on my pancreas was located, so he is confident that that was

pancreatic pain.

The pancreas pain has never been as bad as the gallbladder pain (for

which I am very thankful, especially after hearing some of the stories

from you guys). So now I am thinking that there is definitely

something up with the gallbladder, and whatever is wrong with my

pancreas isn't very serious or severe at this point. So that's my

self-diagnosis

The rest of the scan went well, like I said that pain went away after

about 15 minutes, and when we were done she showed me the images.. I

saw the radioactive stuff in my liver, gallbladder, and small

intestine, but other than knowing that the stuff made it there, I

don't know what it all means. I should have results in 2-4 days. I

really hope that this scan DOES show something going on with the

gallbladder, because I KNOW it's not working right to have that kind

of reaction.

So now I wonder if they will want to take my gallbladder out, or if

they will want to sit around and wait and see if I have another

attack.

Worst part of the scan: after the injection they put a band-aid on my

arm.. they used one of those really strong fabric ones, and now I

can't get it off. I'm probably going to peel a few layers of skin

getting it off! (and yes, I know.. I'm just a big baby!)

Best part of the day: My boss had told me to take a sick day,

figuring I'd want to go home and rest after the procedure. I was done

by 11:15, felt fine, it was a beautiful day, so I went out to lunch

and then went shopping and found dresses for two weddings I have to go

to this month, even found shoes to go with the dresses, then stopped

at the animal shelter and played with the kitties there for a while,

wishing I could take all of them home.

So all in all, I'd say it was a pretty good sick day