I’m Radioactive/Camping

The bottom line:
I’ve been having severe pain in my right hip joint.
Today I had a bone scan and an MRI.
Tomorrow I’m meeting with a radiation oncologist to discuss possible radiation for pain palliation.
I had a great time camping.

The whole line:
I’ve been having severe pain in my right hip joint that has been limiting my locomotion in a rather extremely distressing way for over two weeks. It’s usually not bad if I’m sitting down, not horrible if I’m lying down, but it’s really bad if I’m walking for more than a few minutes, and it’s especially awful going up and down steps or carrying anything of significance.

My doctor ordered a bone scan and an MRI to try to figure out what the cause of the hip joint pain is.

So, I was radioactive this morning. I’m probably not any more, but it sounds pretty crazy, doesn’t it?

This morning I went and got a radioactive tracer injection, got a preliminary bone scan, went and got an MRI, went and got the final bone scan after the radioactive tracer had settled in my bones, and got a CD with all of the images...

The bone scan, other than needing to have two veins stuck because the first didn’t work, was very easy. The only thing worth mentioning was that the tech was really nice and that the scanner got so close to my face that I thought it was going to take off my nose. It was so close my eyes couldn’t focus on it. I had a hard time not laughing. Of course if I had kept my eyes closed as the tech suggested, I wouldn’t have known how close it was.

The MRI on the other hand, was pretty wild. I’d heard all kinds of stories so I was bracing myself and praying a lot. I almost freaked out when the table slid into the MRI tube but then the tech pointed out that I could look out both ends, I noticed that there were nice lights inside of it, there was cool air blowing all over me, and it was a series of scans ranging from about 3-6 minutes long, not just one tortuous 30-minute scan. It was really loud and the noise reminded me of some kind of emergency alert kind of sound, but it was fine.

After that I got a CD full of all kinds of crazy images like these:

I'm pretty sure the big spot on my arm is where the tracer was injected....

I’m not exactly clear about what the detailed explanation of the pain is but the bottom line is that the cancer is causing it, one way or another.

I got referred to a radiation oncologist who will plan a course of radiation with the goal of pain management/reduction/ elimination in mind. My first appointment wasn’t going to be until next Wednesday, which almost made me have a complete meltdown for about an hour after I was told the date. Then, one of my guardian angels up at the hospital called and told me she got me an appointment TOMORROW. That was a HUGE relief.

I’ll post more tomorrow when I get more definitive information.

All I have to say right now is that it blows me away to see God working on my behalf through the person who got me the appointment tomorrow.

It also blows me away to read Isaiah 54, which He showed me through my dear mother this morning, and to see the multitude of ways it speaks directly to me and the things I’ve been struggling with.

Anyway, on a nice, happy note, I had a great time camping over the weekend plus a few days with my family and my dog.

Here are a few pictures:

Accidently coordinated on the tie-dye and khaki bottoms, playing ring toss.

Me and my sisters, hanging out.

My amazing birthday cake on a delightful birthday with some of my favorite people.

My and my dog's sleeping quarters, which were incredibly comfortable (that's a hammock with mosquito netting over it...).