Scans and car wash

I didn't sleep too well last night, anxious about my hospital appointment this morning. I was scheduled for two scans: MRI at 9.20 and CT at 10.00. It was the first of these which especially concerned me the more, since I'd heard reports of the claustrophobic nature of the process. As it turned out, they were only interested in the lower body, so I was put in feet first and there was absolutely no problem as far as claustrophobia went. Indeed, the worst bit about it was the dreadful "music" that was piped into the headphones they gave me to block out the noise. The scan took about twenty minutes, which was divided into spurts varying from thirty seconds to six minutes, each of which had its own noise associated with it. Certainly, there can be no doubt that the headphones were essential, but it was pity that I wasn't offered a musical choice and had to out up with an attack from some appalling music-radio station.

The CT was a different story altogether. I'd missed where it said on the letter of appointment that I should allow for a three-hour stay in the hospital for the purposes of the scan. The scan itself took only five minutes or so, but the wait beforehand was the problem, most of which was spent slowly drinking a liter of water laced with dye. Then there was the fitting of a needle through which more dye was flushed for the second part of the scan. Allowing for all this, it was 12.00 by the time I was ready to leave.

Carl came to pick me up, we went for carvery lunch in Beaumont House nearby, got a car wash (that's the blip), and went for a short drive along the Clontarf seafront. Back home the grand plan was the cut the grass, but the rain came and scuppered that. After Carl left I went straight to bed to catch up on the sleep I missed last night and spent the rest of the day lazily again.

Now all that remains is to wait patiently until 16th May for our follow-on appointment with the radiology oncologist. That's when I get the results of the scans and actual treatment will be decided. The night of the 15th will probably be another sleepless one.