i had monday off from work (summer session hasn't started, so office staff and administration was given the day off), so i made an appointment to have my cat scan at 2pm and the meeting with the psychiatrist at 5pm. i wasn't allowed to eat 5 hours before my CT scan, so i had a piece of toast and stopped eating at 9am.
my train was a 1/2 hour delayed (the first time that has ever happened to me on the LIRR), so i was running a little late. i jumped in a cab and sped over to 70th and york for my appointment. i tipped the cab driver ext
ra well since he got me there
my train was a 1/2 hour delayed (the first time that has ever happened to me on the LIRR), so i was running a little late. i jumped in a cab and sped over to 70th and york for my appointment. i tipped the cab driver ext
ra well since he got me there so fast. i made it into the x-ray and CT scan department, signed in and finally caught my breath and sat down. and i waited. and waited. and waited. after an hour of waiting, i checked with the front desk to make sure they hadn't misplaced my file or forgot to put my chart with the rest of the charts. but they assured me everything was fine and i'd be called in shortly. once it was pushing 4pm (2 hours of waiting, 7 hours of not eating), i started to get worried that i wouldn't be seen and consequently that i'd miss my psychiatric appointment. i didn't want to have to travel to manhattan another day and miss another day of work! so i explained to them my situation and this nice man overheard me and said "come with me young lady," and promptly took me back to the CT scan room with him. after another 1/2 hour of waiting, i was finally ushered into this tiny room with a large mirror and 2 lockers. i was asked to remove my pants, bra and shirt and put on a hospital gown. i did. and then was just as quickly taken in to get my CT scan. the 2 men (the CT technician and th
e RN present) were extremely friendly (and quite touchy, haha) -- they kept me entertained and apologized for making me wait so long. i had an IV inserted into my right arm where i was told a contrast medium would be later injected. they took some preliminary scans of my abdomen and 10 minutes later the 2 men came back in to prep me for the contrast scan. i'm not quite sure what it was (i think barium), but it was injected into my system very quickly. within seconds, my face got very hot and i tasted metal in my mouth (all of which
he said would probably happen)...
but the worst part was at the same time all that was happening, i felt like i was peeing my pants. over the intercom, he asked if i was okay, at which point i nervously said, "my face is on fire and i think i just peed myself!!" he assured me that all of that was normal, and just as fast as it had come, all the same sensations disappeared. for one final scan, they had me lay on my stomach and they scanned me one last time. i hopped off the table, they made me sign some consent forms and i was on my way.
23 floors up i traveled to my next appointment. i met with the psychiatrist, who was a little strange and had the best poker face i'd ever seen. he asked me the usual questions: why are you doing this, do you know the consequences, do your parents know, have you ever been depressed, used drugs, blah blah blah. he seemed wary of my answers for some reason and asked if it would be alright to call my parents to get their outlook about this whole thing. so i said of course and provided him with their numbers. after an hour of being under the microscope, i was finally freed and left the building.
i met my friend mirinae for dinner (10 hours of waiting to eat) and we went to little japan and ate crazy things, like some kind of octopus balls and raw tuna and then walked back to her apartment. i caught the train home at 9:40 and was back at my apartment by 10:30ish.
a long day, but well worth it :)
23 floors up i traveled to my next appointment. i met with the psychiatrist, who was a little strange and had the best poker face i'd ever seen. he asked me the usual questions: why are you doing this, do you know the consequences, do your parents know, have you ever been depressed, used drugs, blah blah blah. he seemed wary of my answers for some reason and asked if it would be alright to call my parents to get their outlook about this whole thing. so i said of course and provided him with their numbers. after an hour of being under the microscope, i was finally freed and left the building.
i met my friend mirinae for dinner (10 hours of waiting to eat) and we went to little japan and ate crazy things, like some kind of octopus balls and raw tuna and then walked back to her apartment. i caught the train home at 9:40 and was back at my apartment by 10:30ish.
a long day, but well worth it :)
3 comments:
Words cannot express my feelings and my awe of the gift you so generously and excitedly wish to give...to a stranger!! You have gone through so much already, it is almost like you are the one suffering a health crisis! You will be in my thoughts and prayers each day you go through this process. Your family's support is amazing as well, so I can now see how you have inherited such compassion.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts as you continue on the journey.
Melissa,
I came across your blog a couple of days ago and just got a chance to finish reading the whole thing. My wife has PKD and received a kidney donation from her aunt a little over ten years ago. Without that transplant, she would have had to endure ten years of dialysis instead - and probably would not be in nearly as good health as she is today. So, I know firsthand how special a thing it is that you are doing - and the fact that you are donating to a stranger only makes it more special. Thanks for taking the time to blog about your experiences - maybe it will help inspire others to be as brave as yourself. I plan on adding your blog to my blog roll, if that's OK with you.
You did a good job of providing the information on PKD. As you state, over 600,000 Americans have this disease - yet it remains relatively unknown. I guess I would hope that if your recipient is as insanely famous as you say, perhaps he could be motivated to use his fame to help spread awareness of PKD so it can gather more attention, which would help it receive the level of funding it deserves (both from government and personal donations).
If you want to learn more about PKD and the lives of the people it impacts, I invite you to check out my blog at http://teamteddybear.blogspot.com
I wish you the best of luck and health!
Bob
Oh, forgot, one more thing. My wife's transplant was also at the Rogosin Institute, and she still goes there for here followup care. She's been very happy with the care she has received over the past 15 or so years. I hope you find it to be the same.
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