René Part 2
September 29,1997
MULTI-GATED-ACQUISITION SCAN = MUGA SCAN
I went for the MUGA scan today. It was in Nuclear Medicine. I was wrong
in saying it was like an EKG. (it was to a point!) The MUGA scan is checking
the heart, the Left Ventricle to be exact. They draw out whole blood, a
couple CC's. They basically mix a radioactive pharmaceutical "Technetivem"(sp) with
my blood and re-inject it into my body.
They took 2 or 3 angle projections (pictures) of the left ventricle and 2 or
3 of the right ventricle of my heart. In order to get the pictures they attach
EKG leads to pulse points on my body. Wrist and ankle(ankle I thought that was a
little weird!). The "Camera" looks like a typical x-ray machine.
They're looking at the ECG rhythm,(pumping strength of the heart) that's
where the left ventricle does its job.... The studies and followup on over 4,000
people (Ulm University, Germany 1991) found three (3) people to have trouble with
the left ventricle of the heart due to the usage of mitoxantrone! I was fairly
confident that my heart was in good shape. I told Allen that if they found something
wrong I would be so angry after getting this far.
The whole process took about 2 hours. Mixing the blood took 25 minutes.
Finding a vein to draw blood out and re-injecting,took at least 30 minutes,
they ended up calling an anesthesiologist after the nurse gave up!(I've got very
small veins.) This was fine with me,he got it the first time.Getting me up on a NON
wheelchair accessible table was interesting to say the least! They had to
call the "Strongest" attendants they had to get me up on a table that was
over 3 feet high!...getting someone as disabled as I,on a table that high is NOT
FUN. There's no way Allen could do it without hurting himself.
Paula and Brian, the technicians, basically said I have a strong heart, they
were actually sounding excited while looking at the pictures coming up on the
screen, sounding as though their favorite baseball player was coming up to bat!!
The MUGA scan and blood tests will be sent to the Oncologists office Weds.
Oct.1st the day of my appointment with Dr. Pomeroy. We'll be going over the
"Game plan" for my mitoxantrone treatment!
Everything went smoothly today aside from the NON accessible table... that
was more nerve-racking and frustrating than anything else.If they lift me
wrong, I get bruised ribs or a pulled shoulder. It's happened before! The drawing
of my blood was more upsetting to the nurse than I, I've been there, done that!
I stared at the ceiling and basically reassured her. Thinking all the time,
My Mitoxantrone treatment will start Oct.2,1997. 9: a.m. West Coast Time!:-)
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