CT Scan

Saturday, 19th May

For the past 3 days all I did was slept most the time and being drugged. I never knew I was that exhausted. The doctor's final diagnosis was that I was over stressed. All they did was to give me more drugs.

I've discussed the matter with Ana and reluctantly I told my family. This is ONE LONG issue I do not want to delve into right now. Its been and issue with me for the longgest time!

Examinations that they did was to take X-ray which didn't show much at all. So they decided to do a CT Scan....... What an experience!

Since I was a post transplant kidney patient they needed the LATEST cretinine level. The last one they took was on the 16th May. Dr Stanley came up tp me and gave me the bad news. I was so disheartend. He tried his best, he took my blood test ON THE SPOT IN PUBLIC!! We waited for half and hour impatiently. When the doctor gave the go ahead. I was happy and nervous at the same time.

A CT scan — also called CT, computerized tomography or CAT scan — is an X-ray technique that produces images of your internal organs that are more detailed than those produced by conventional X-ray exams.

How do you prepare?

For my scan I was required to ingest a contrast medium before the scan. A contrast medium blocks X-rays and appears white on images, which can help emphasize blood vessels or other structures. You can take the contrast medium by mouth, enema or an injection into a vein (intravenously). ..... and I had to do all three!! The night before doctor asked me to fast for 12 hours before the test.

CT scan image of the abdomen

Left: Conventional X-ray film shows bones and vague outlines of organs. Right: CT with contrast medium clearly shows several organs and blood vessels. Short, thick arrows show a tumor in the pancreas that has spread (metastasized) to the liver.

How is a CT scan done?

During a CT scan, you lie on a table inside a doughnut-shaped machine called a gantry. An X-ray tube inside the machine rotates around your body and sends small doses of radiation through it at various angles. As X-rays pass through your body, different tissues absorb different amounts. Detectors inside the gantry measure the radiation leaving your body and convert the radiation into electrical signals. A computer gathers these signals and assigns them a color ranging from black to white depending on signal intensity. The computer then assembles the images and displays them on a computer monitor.

It was the scariest moment of my life. It hurts when they announce that the contrast medium will be entering your veins. It hurts a little than it felt warm. Worse part is that you can't move nor scream.

At the end of it when all is done. I was parched and hunger pangs attacked me. Even than .... I could not eat much.