Getting Older Means Having Interesting Medical Tests
No, this isn’t the 20-minute-long gynecological test. This was a bone scan. Since I fell on the ice a couple of weeks ago my arm still wasn’t feeling better. I went to the doctor and got it X-rayed and they found that the elbow was broken. Luckily it was a very stable break and did not require a cast. However, my wrist still hurt a lot. So the doctor, a hand surgeon, recommended a bone scan. That’s a pretty serious medical test. The reason he recommended it is that sometimes certain fractures do not show up on X-rays but they do appear on bone scans. So yesterday I went to a local hospital for an injection of some kind of radioactive stuff. I waited three hours (went home and read a book out in the warmish day) and went back to the hospital for the scan. They decided to give me my money’s worth so instead of just scanning my wrist, they threw in a full body scan. The test requires lying down and staying completely still for like 45 minutes. That’s hard to do! Also, if you ever have to have this test, and don’t like the feeling of being in a coffin prematurely, don’t open your eyes. The camera almost comes right down on top of you. Anyway, the results were good: no break in my wrist. I will wear a simple splint for a few weeks and that should cure me.
February 12th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
I’m sorry about your elbow break! Good thing your wrist isn’t broken. I hope everything feels better fast.
February 12th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Thanks, Emily. Honestly, I am glad I had such a simple break. It’s not that bad!!
February 12th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
Glad it will get better soon. Those enclosed tests scare me. I don’t know if I’d be able to do it.
February 12th, 2009 at 5:26 pm
Me either. I would be tempted to turn down the pleasure. Poop-shooter exams are bad enough.
February 12th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
Ouch! If you have to have a break a simple one is better than a complex one. Have you had a bone density test done.
I think all the walking has been good for that, My doc declared that I have young bones.
February 12th, 2009 at 7:38 pm
Rhea – I am undergoing the same thing, lots of tests after an “episode” on Friday…they are a real pain in the butt. They think they know what is wrong, but their therapy doesn’t seem to change anything. The MRI was a pain, the loud banging and being perfectly still for almost 45 minutes…me still for 45 minutes
Oh well, I am glad that you didn’t have any more damage, we heal, but just not as fast as we used.
February 12th, 2009 at 10:58 pm
I had a bone scan for a rule out on a stress fracture many years ago. You have not lived until you experience a lower GI series.
February 13th, 2009 at 10:54 am
Luckily you don’t live in Canada, you’d still be waiting for your tests…ciao
February 13th, 2009 at 11:05 am
sounds like you either got great medical care and/or they got the max revenue out of you… it is so hard to tell, eh? (Just heard Dr. Weil last night speaking in here in Marin so his views on this are top of mind)… hope you have a full recovery
another fan of this blob
February 13th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
I like to think of it is a great medical care.
Really, Rositta? Wow.
February 13th, 2009 at 7:14 pm
Glad to hear it’s not broken. I’ve had a couple of MRIs. They didn’t last 45 minutes but they were long enough. I don’t do “still” well at all.
February 14th, 2009 at 9:39 am
Having had both hips replaced in my early forties, I swore I didn’t want another medical test or procedure, ever … but now that I am in my fifties, I am being urged to have all these routine exams, including the dreaded colonoscopy, etc. I believe in preventative care, so I will go through with these tests, but I admit I’ve been putting them off!
February 14th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
So glad to know you’re on the mend, Rhea. Relieved it wasn’t worse! I’d like to write a comedy routine about those “interesting medical tests.” I am resigned to the idea that “saging” is chock full of Poking Around Body Parts Parties and requires a serious sense of humor.
February 20th, 2009 at 4:19 am
[...] Getting older means having new and more complicated medical tests. [...]