Ugga MUGA

That phrase has always been used in our home to echo Daniel Striped Tiger's favorite expression from Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. This week, it describes the MUGA (heart) scan I had yesterday. I've been having this scan done every 3 months as a diagnostic tool during my Herceptin treatment. Herceptin can make heart muscle become "flabby," so the oncologist wants to keep a close eye on me. I've not had a bad result yet, and I don't necessarily expect a bad one now. My final Herceptin treatment, by the way, is scheduled for this coming Monday, the 12th.....woohoo!

So, when I went over to the hospital yesterday, I was just expecting a routine time. The normal procedure is that they draw blood, mix it with some radioactive "stuff," let it "cook" for about 30 minutes, inject it back into you (how kind of them!) and then take images of your heart over the course of about another 30 minutes. All I have to do is lie still on the table. I have been known to doze on occasion. All in all, it should be easy.

Nothing is easy at our hospital, though. Each time I have taken this test, they have sent me to a different place to register. Yesterday was no exception. Even though I asked when I registered on the phone and asked again when they called me to confirm my appointment, I was still told, patronizingly, "You are really supposed to register at the Heart Center, but I will take care of it here." Sigh.....I was the one who asked, "Shouldn't I register at the Heart Center?" To which the reply was, "No, go to Radiology." By now I was thanking God that I wasn't at the Medical Center as I would have many more hallways to walk through to get to the proper location!

Michelle was the lady who called me in to start phase 1 of the test. She would draw my blood; I would then go sit back in the waiting room for a half hour. Since my surgery, I can only have blood drawn from my right arm. I have a semi-permanent "tatoo" at the crease of my elbow from all the times they have drawn blood from my right arm. It has been a very productive vein. However, it's uncomfortable to have blood drawn there for this procedure, as they leave in the IV. That means holding one's arm straight for 30 minutes or being in pain when bending said arm because of the IV. So I was glad Michelle looked for and found another vein to use. Except this vein didn't want to give blood. It would let her inject IN, but she couldn't draw anything OUT. It seems there was a valve there, doing its little valve job.......great......

So, Michelle left that IV in place since she would need to inject my blood back in later. Since she still needed to draw blood OUT of me, she used Old Faithful and got the required amount for their nuclear concoction. Now I had 2 spots with that awful plastic tape stuck on me. I took my seat back in the waiting room and proceeded to read a relatively current magazine while I waited out my time. Not long after I sat down, Michelle entered the waiting room with a man whome she introduced as John. It seemed that John was now going to administer my test, as it was Michelle's lunch time (now I am wondering what ever happened to finishing a task before tending to one's stomach). John informed me that my blood wasn't ready yet, and he would call me when it was time. 10 minutes later, I got "the call, and John led me back to the testing room where he gave me my blood back and then took out the IV. Then, he told me to get positioned on the table for pictures. In the process of getting things all set, he needed to connect me to various electrodes. While doing so, he asked me, rather sheepishly, "Do you have on a prosthesis?" I apologetically answered to the affirmative; not realizing that it would interfere with the imaging, I came overdressed, so to speak. John then asked for me to remove it, and I proceeded to go through contortions of great magnitude as I had never attempted that feat from the position I was in. I handed the object over to John; he placed it under a nearby pillow so it wouldn't be lying there exposed to all the passersby. Hysterical!

The rest of the time there went without a hitch. I was introduced to Shania Twain's music (Isomething I had never heard before, to my knowledge anyway). Instead of listening, I dozed off. Why waste good naptime is my rationale. Michelle returned from lunch just in time to finish the test and help megather all of my "belongings" and put them in their rightful places. I then left the hospital and drove into town to finish the rest of my errands.

The results of the test should be at the oncologist's office on Monday when I have my visit there. I go to have more blood drawn tomorrow morning so that Dr. Holmes will have all of the pertinent details she needs to assess my progress when I see her. Please pray for good results all the way around. I will update after Monday's visit with results and details.

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." ~Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV)

posted by Kim @ 11:53 PM