For people with advanced disease or in continuous treatment, life revolves around scans. Every 3 months - scans. You learn whether the treatment's working, whether you need to get back on treatment, and the overall state of the disease. In other words, you learn whether you have another 3 months of relative peace until the next scan, or your heart plummets and you try to grapple with what the next steps are. I used to pray really hard, but now, I just listen to the Christian radio station on the way to the facility. It's sorta like my way to get my prayers in...the singer's praising God, and I'm a passive participant. I still pray, but I also know that whatever happens, happens.
I go into the room with my mom and I warn the tech about how my mom has small veins. This is an example of me playing the role of Overbearing Daughter, but I would feel awful if I didn't speak up. The last time, her arms were bruised from the tech moving the needle inside her arm, and she still couldn't start the IV. Finally, she called in a nurse. This time, the tech (a different one) promised to be very careful and would try very hard not to hurt her. She was successful though it still hurt more since she used the vein near her hand. The lady then turned to my mom and with a smile, asked, "Do I get an A+?"
"Hells no you don't get an A. More like C-," my mom whispered in Chinese. But she just smiled and said, "Yes, thanks" in English.
So then I went back to the lobby and waited for about a hour and a half. While there I noticed an Asian couple that just sat down. The husband was on the phone, leaving a message on the doctor's voicemail about how his wife couldn't proceed with the scan because the script was completed incorrectly. It was missing an "MPI number." He then left the fax number for the doctor to send a revised script. They then had no choice but to wait in anticipation for the doctor's office to respond. The phone rang on his cell and it was the doctor's office. Eagerly, the husband and wife hurriedly walked over to the person at reception, handed the phone to her, and said, "Please, talk to the doctor's office to find out what you're missing." The reception lady dismissed him immediately and said, "I will not take the call. You have the fax number." Upset, he asked, "Why can't you just talk to her?" She then said some stuff about "protocol" and he said repeatedly, "Please, just talk to her. Please." You could hear the desperation in his voice. He just wanted things to get ironed out and was playing the messenger. Finally, he angrily said, "Where's your manager?" The manager came over and the reception lady sat in the back on the other side of the counter. He explained to the manager that his wife was having surgery next week and needed to get the scan done. He understood that the script was incomplete. However, he didn't understand why the woman wouldn't take the call, especially since the doctor's office was extremely busy and he had the phone available right then and there. The manager ameliorated the situation and eventually things got worked out for her to get the scan. But later, he brazenly went over to the reception lady who was psuedo-hiding and asked for her name to write a complaint, which she would not provide. I then heard him said, "What, you don't know your name?"
Honestly, kudos to the husband for putting that lady on blast. I wanted to go up to them and say, "I'm so sorry you had so much trouble." Seriously, this is an example of people who work in healthcare who should not be in customer service.
BTW, here are tips on foods to eat before a PET scan.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/358829-foods-to-eat-before-a-pet-scan/
Most say to avoid exercising and fast 12 hours before. But some facilities say to go on a low-carb diet to try and avoid false positives.
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