The CT Scan

I felt well enough to cope with public transport this morning, so Kevin dropped me off at Fremantle train station at 11 am. I just missed the train and the next one was 15 minutes later. OK - should still be in plenty of time. BUT - due to the heatwave we are having the trains are slowed down, plus this particular service stopped at every station. By the time we reached Perth I was starting to think I mightn't be in time but before I panicked I had got to McIver (the hospital station), and was at the radiology desk precisely on time at 12 noon.

I had to drink 3 foam cups of a dye solution before the procedure. Last time I did this (for the CT scan that turned our life upside down) it was quite unpleasant and I had to drink a lot more over a longer time span. Today's solution was liquorice flavoured. While I am not a fan of liquorice it was quite palatable and very easy to drink.

I had hoped that they could use the PICC line for the additional contrast dye injection, but apparently the catheter was not suitable for a fast infusion (I have a blue stopper, the dye needs a purple one) so they had to look for another cannula site. My elbow veins are not very suitable - there were valve problems the last two times I had a scan - so I ended up with a catheter in my right hand. I have a large bruise there now.

After the procedure I caught the train back to Fremantle and Kevin picked me up from the station. Easy, and no long boring wait for him. My sole complaint about the whole thing was that I was told to bring along my previous scans - very large envelopes, quite heavy - and no-one wanted to look at them.