A Second Scintigraph

After finding out that removing my prostate didn't get all the cancer the hospital are now doing tests to find where it's hiding.

Yesterday I had a scintigraph at Vinci hospital. Scintigraphy (from Latin scintilla, "spark"), also known as a gamma scan, is a diagnostic test in nuclear medicine, where radioisotopes attached to drugs that travel to a specific organ or tissue (radiopharmaceuticals) are taken internally and the emitted gamma radiation is captured by gamma cameras, which are external detectors that form two-dimensional images in a process similar to the capture of x-ray images. (Wikipedia).

The appointment was scheduled for 13:05. The instructions were to eat nothing within 4 hours, so after a bowl of cereal at 08:30 I stopped eating and drinking. You have to stay still during the test and not drinking anything removed the possibility of needing a wee half way through.

We arrived 10 minutes early and then ha to sit around for about an hour because they had run out of "product" and were awaiting more from the lab. Whether the "product" they were talking about was saline drip or the atomic isotope I don't know.

Anyway... After a long wait I was called into the room, a vein in my arm was found, and the catheter inserted. I was attached to two bags of liquid and left for about 10 minutes. Then the technician reappeared with a metal canister that looked like a high tech - but small - teapot. She hid behind a screen, attached the capsule to my catheter and turned in on using a long stick thing. Remember - she was hiding from it, yet it was going into my arm.

I then had a wait until the product had reached the extremities, and then I was called into the room to be scanned. That involved removing all metal - belt, hairband, and that - but I went further and put on a pair of drawstring shorts. Unnecessary, maybe, but it's uncomfortable enough without clothing adding to the discomfort.

The scan itself takes about 15 minutes, and involved being flat on my back, one hand gripping the other wrist, with my hands above my head. My shoulder was screaming with pain after about a minute, but you can't move. 

I'm not sure quite how I managed, but they seemed happy enough. We left the hospital and went straight to a boulangerie that has a seating area. It may have been 16:46, but I needed lunch.

The results of the scan will be sent to me, but I'm not sure I will look at them. What's the chances I'd understand them?

I do know I'm still not Godzilla