Monday, January 5, 2009

Post 4 -- CT and MUGA Scans

12/3/08 - CT Scan and MUGA Scan.

There are basically 2 chemo regimens available to me; one of which is uses some pretty aggressive drugs. Specifically, it can have some adverse affects on my heart. The MUGA scan is a heart scan. It's pretty cool in theory and provides Dr. Dan with a baseline of my heart functions, should we elect to go the more aggressive route of chemo treatment.

The CT scan is pretty much a collection of high-speed X-Ray images processed by computers to provide a slice-by-slice diagram of your body. They will inject with a contrast dye so that the portions of your body they are interested will image better.

Overall, both tests are painless. The only issue with them is they require you to lie on a table with your arms held above your head for 20-30 minutes for each test. Oh, and don't move... at all... or they will "yell" at you to not move.

Go ahead and try this at home boys and girls, see how successful you are. I wasn't all that successful. I did my best, but I did end up shifting around a little for each test.

No comments: