One Down

Completed the MRI with contrast. In two hours I'll have the Dopa PET scan. In the meantime I'm chugging water to ease the burden off my kidneys. Can't eat anything until I'm done "scanning", so I might as well make off like a water buffalo.

My arm is ready and waiting for the next needle.

Best message of the morning (no offense to anyone - I have really appreciated the sweet messages - this one was just too hilarious)....

 

The above pic came with a note saying, "Honey Badger says don't worry." Thanks Uzdi! I laughed out loud when I saw it.

While in my scan this morning, I noticed how nice it has been to do this whole thing alone. To wait for them to call my name, or find my way around the hospital, has actually been kinda nice. When you go to an appointment, not only are you a little worried, those around you are even more worried, so it becomes a cloud of anxiety, even in the best of cases. You guys know me, I love my independence. I guess this is just one more step of accidental liberation. Thankfully I've been traveling back and forth to NYC so I have some practice.

Truthfully, I'm enjoying myself. I'm watching people, I'm wandering around in the fresh air (in a t-shirt no less). Whatever they find on the Dopa will be what it is. In the meantime, I'm just going to soak up the world around me 

The Invisible Man

What's missing from this picture....

....Dan. He got stuck at work and when I called to check on him (15 minutes after he was supposed to pick me up to head for the airport), he said he was still in Bellingham. I made a mad dash to our other phone trying to get a taxi (no dice), a towncar (no dice), then I pulled up Uber the car and driver app, finally, success! 

My sweet female driver lyn picked me up (by then it was 3:45 pm with a flight departure of 5:00 pm). I relayed my story, and my gratitude that she was willing to take me to Sea-Tac, and she said she would drive as fast as she could, using all of the traffic tricks to avoid rush hour. By the time we got to the airport we had 40 minutes to spare, and Lyn wouldn't even let me pay (so I hid a $20 in her cup holder in the front seat when she wasn't looking).

Once I made it through security (I was even able to help a lady cut in front of me for her 4:30 flight to Boise - always fun making friends in the security line), I walked up the ramp, toward my gate, they swiped my ticket and I was straight boarding. No fuss. No wasted time.

I feel like my stress level was through the roof, although I did manage to laugh it all off. There is a certain severity with these scans because they take weeks/months to plan and become approved, then you have to coordinate the departments, and the Dopa PET is only available on Thursdays, and they only take two patients a day. It was imperative that I make it for these scans, and guess what, I strapped on my spartan warrior helmet (do they wear helmets?), and here I am. If I can handle NYC on my own, I know I can handle LA too.

Thank you to my parents for scrambling to get me a ride from the LA airport, it was all so last minute. Thank you Susea & Gene for the help, and thank you to Sally for picking me up! Jeff, I was going to call you to see if you were available, but my parents took care of it for me while I was trying to navigate security. 

I am here. I am alive. I will be scanned tomorrow, and all the while I will think about fun things like kittens, and puppies, and turtles, and squirrels, and honey badgers, and snails, and....clearly I need to get to bed. It's late and 6:00 am will come early with all this stress.

Spartan Warriors : 1

Giver-uppers : 0

I feel accomplished. Now for great scan results. If you are so inclined, prayers of any sort are warmly welcomed. :)

Sweet dreams.