Chest CT
Photo courtesy of livingkidneydonation.co.uk
I didn’t have to do anything in the way of preparation for this scan. The actual CT machine is like a donut with a bed attached. I had to lay on the bed feet first and then the tech put an IV in my arm and left the room. The CT machine tells you when to breathe and when to hold your breath. I had to hold my arms over my head. I went through the machine twice and then the tech came back out to inject me with the contrast.
The contrast makes you feel a little warm, especially in your bladder. After the contrast was in, I went through the machine two more times. When you are holding your breath you will hear and see the inside of the donut moving. You don’t feel anything at all. After that, I was done with the chest CT.
Abdomen and Pelvis CT
Two of these
For this test, I did have to do some preparation. I had to drink two barium smoothies. They are supposed to taste like a vanilla smoothie, but they really only smelled that way. I had to drink one an hour before I went to sleep and another one an hour before the test. I also couldn’t eat or drink after midnight on the night before the test. This stuff was ok in the beginning, but it is a big container. Apart from this preparation, the test was the same as the chest CT. Same breathing and same contrast in my arm. This time the contrast made me feel warmer than the first one; I guess because I was fasting.
Bone Scan
Photo courtesy of monayabonbon.blogspot
For the bone scan, I was injected with a tracer and told to come back about three hours later for the actual scan. I could eat and drink like normal. They just told me to drink extra fluids. Before the scan, they took me to the bathroom and said it was important to go before because if there was anything in my bladder, it would show up on the scan.
They said it was important to stay very still, so they actually put like a giant rubber band on my feet to keep them together and then put my arms at my sides and wrapped me a little like a mummy.
They scanned my whole skeleton starting with my head. That was the worst part because the scan is right in front of your face. I just closed my eyes. This part took about 4 or 5 minutes. Then the machine started to move very slowly and soon my head was clear of it. There was a monitor above the machine where I could see the time remaining. It took about 20 minutes to scan my whole body. Then the tech took a few angles. You won’t feel anything from the scan or the tracer.
These tests took time and there was a lot of waiting involved, but they weren’t painful. The absolute worst thing was the barium smoothie.