Scan Follow-up
I guess I spoke too soon regarding my “good” experience during my scans. First, I went back to have my labs drawn. The nurse was nice enough, but after she pulled my port needle, she realized that she did not draw a particular needed vial (a ‘red top’ vial; it also turned out that she drew and extra, unneeded ‘green’ top). Well, since I was going to need an IV for my CT scan, I asked the nurse to leave the IV in after she drew the extra vile.
I then head down to Radiology and sat…and sat…and sat. When they did call me back, the nurse seemed unsure what to do because I already had an IV. She also told me that she didn’t have any orders for my CT scan (and I had to wait while she asked the doctor to send another set of orders). I then got to sit in the fish bowl and drink my Barium Sulfate (which still tastes horrible).
…and then the fun begins. The CT technician was also surprised that the IV was not put in down in radiology and before we started my scan, he flushed the IV to make sure it worked (it did). The IV is used to inject a dye into my system that helps with visualizing my innards. Unfortunately, when the technician started the machine to inject the dye, I knew something was wrong.
As the dye went in, I began to feel wetness on my arm. Then I noticed that there was liquid dripping out…then it was dripping more…then the drip became a steady flow…then the drip began to turn pink…then when the dye was finished being injected, I noticed that the liquid dripping from my arm was decidedly red. I’m not sure what happened (and the tech swears that enough of the dye got into my system), but most of the dye dripped out of the IV and then I began bleeding. I don’t think I bled THAT much, though, the tech did cover the floor with a sheet, so I didn’t see how much blood was on the floor.
I do know that there was a whole lot of blood on my arm and the tech spent 2-3 minutes holding gauze on my arm as he wiped my arm with some kind of towelette (actually, several of them). He then wrapped my arm (tightly) with some bandage and sent me on my way.
The experience was not a crisis, but I am very happy not to go through that again. I will find out my results a week from tomorrow (Thursday). When I know, I’ll let you know.
Cheers,
Merle
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