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July 22, 2007 [Author's Note: The following is an excerpt from a book that I am working on. Just like the life that my husband and I are living ...this is a work in progress.] Wednesday begins at the crack of dawn for us and I
am not at my best. We have to wake up at 5:00 am in order to be ready for the
Town Car Service to pick us up to travel to Banner Samaritan Hospital in
downtown Phoenix. My husband will be undergoing his first PET Scan and MRI in
accordance with the new Study that he has entered into and we can't be
late.
I received explicit instructions from the Nurse
Administrator who is in charge of the PET Department's Study Program and she
made it very clear to me that the appointment time was set in
stone.
The procedure takes several hours and must begin on
time which opens up a whole new world of stress for me.
I get my husband up and explain (several times)
where we are going and why we are going there. He reluctantly gets ready and
takes his pills and eats a small bowl of cereal so that there are six full hours
between this ritual and the actual test.
I am racing around like a chicken with it's head
cut off to try and get ready and I am shocked that this is accomplished with
relative ease at such an ungodly hour. . I think that I broke records for speed
because we managed to accomplish everything in under an hour. Of course, I now
have a splitting headache and forgot to eat so I am operating on a coffee rush
with no food to cushion the blow between my brain and my growling
stomach.
You've heard the expression "Hurry up and wait"?,
well that's what we do for almost half an hour. No Town Car.....we will be
late....panic. I was given the number for the transportation company and I
frantically call them to tell them that the car hasn't arrived...yada, yada,
yada. They tell me to look out my front door because the car is pulling up as we
speak. They are right, and off we go into the unknown and the highly
anticipated.
The driver is a charming fellow who makes
conversation all the way to the next stop....next stop? We are picking up a lady
who is also going to the hospital, and now I am positive that we will be late
for the testing. The driver assures me that he does this sort of thing every
single day and that we will make it on time. I have no choice but to put my
faith in him.
We arrive on time and once we've made it through
the maze of hospital corridors to the Nuclear Medicine Department, we are met by
Alicia Domb, RN, who is in charge of the Study and the procedures. She is very
kind and gentle and explains in great detail every single form that I am
required to sign as his care-giver. Most of the papers are explanations of what
the procedure is but a few of them tell me that since this is a "Blind Study";
no one will know my husband's name or any personal details and the
information will not be shared with anyone who isn't directly involved in
the Study itself. Fortunately, having been a Nurse, I am able to
understand most of what is said.
It takes over an hour to complete the paperwork and
then my husband is taken into a small side room where IV's are placed in both of
his arms. This is so they can administer the dye for the PET Scan. As usual, he
is being his usual comical self and everyone loves him. I am just tired and
anxious to get the whole thing over with.
Once the IV's are in place, he is taken into a
large, dark, chilly room where there is a table under a tunnel-like machine.
They give him a blanket and pillows and make him as comfortable as possible.
They, consist of Nurse Domb and a Tech who actually performs the test. It's a
good thing that he isn't claustrophobic because they slide him under the
tunnel-like contraption and his head disappears from sight. This test will take
two hours and I am told that I can check up on him anytime that I want too. I
stay for a while to see that he's okay and then make my way to the small waiting
room to attempt to read the book that I brought with me.
I am not a person who finds it easy to sit still
for long periods of time so I wander between the PET Scan room, the outside
walkways (where I smoke) and the waiting room where I try to read while a small
television set continually plays some inane cooking show. I try to change the
channels but the boring cooking channel is the only one I can get. They
obviously don't want the patients (or the people who come with them)
overly-stimulated. No "Law and Order" for me today; just lots of healthy foods
being prepared by some woman who looks like a modern version of Betty
Crocker.
I admire my husband for his patience because every
time I venture into the PET Scan room he is lying there quietly, never making a
move or complaining of any discomfort.
Finally, the test is completed and Nurse Domb walks
us to the hospital cafeteria with tickets to purchase our lunch. This particular
cafeteria has a soup and salad bar, a fast food area, a daily menu area, and a
sandwich area. They even have an espresso and coffee bar so we had a large
choice of food to select from. Sadly, no matter the variety and the fact that
the food was free...it tasted like hospital food and I stuck with a turkey
sandwich and a container of chocolate milk. My husband got something else but it
was unrecognizable so I didn't comment.
We have one hour to eat until we must to return to
the Nuclear Medicine Pod to meet with Alicia once again. We arrive on time and
are escorted to another building on the hospital grounds where MRI's are
performed.
The waiting area was just as small as the previous
one but it seemed newer and more modern. The choice of reading material was just
as stale and boring. The MRI test only takes about half an hour and I have
barely gotten into the latest chapter of the book I have brought with me
before my husband returns and we are walked to the front of the building where
we are informed that our Town Car will soon pick us up for the return ride
home.
After an hour with no Town Car in sight I return to
the reception area and complain. Someone there calls Nurse Domb and soon
enough the car arrives. The return trip is less stressful than the morning's
journey because we aren't under pressure to be on time.
The long testing day comes to an end at about 5:00
pm and I am grateful to be home.
Tomorrow, will be fairly simple compared to the
previous couple of days as we only have to return to the Research Center where a
battery of doctor's and a psychologist will continue testing my husband to
determine how far his disease has progressed. I will also be grilled
because I am his care-giver and knowledge of what I should expect as his disease
progresses and the Study continues, are essential to his well-being (and mine
too).
Thursday beckons and I now believe that I can
handle what ever is to come.....
Suddenly, the old expression, "Denial ain't just a River in Egypt" flashes through my brain.
On a day where the temperatures hit 110 degrees, I get the chills.
------------ About the author: Meri has a Medical/Legal background and is a former forensic researcher specializing in psychological profiling. Visit the Xlibris Bookstore! Email: writers2@cox.net Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. Please link to this article rather than copying and pasting it onto your site (which would be unauthorized and illegal). |
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