I had my letter arrive this weekend for an appointment at Basingstoke for my first annual CT scan. The scan is on the 14th February at 10:45am.......Happy Valentine’s Day!
I rang the hospital yesterday and spoke with Sue Alves to confirm my attendance who advised that as usual I can’t eat anything for four hours before the scan and that on arrival at the CT scanner they will issue me with a “cocktail” to sip over the next hour or so to ensure that the images are good quality. Whilst sipping my “cocktail” I will also need to head down to pathology to have a blood test for Tumour Markers all pretty standard and as I have done before.
The only difference this time is that new guidelines have been issued regarding CT scans and that I now have to book an eGFR blood test before having the scan with my GP. EGFR stands for Estimated Glomoruler Filtration Rate and basically measures how well the kidneys are functioning and removing creatinine from the blood. From this test you are given a score based on the results of the test combines with your age, sex and race to calculate your eGFR. A normal eGFR is a score or 60 or more, any lower and it may suggest kidney disease. However the eGFR test apparently is not suitable for under 18’s, pregnant women or people of a very muscular build.
At the moment I feel really well and as previously reported am back running regularly and caving as often as I can. In fact I have now added a link to my new caving blog listing trip details and showing photo’s and film footage from within the caves for those that are interested!
I’m not too worried by the up and coming CT scan....what will be will be and there is no use wasting time or energy worrying about what might happen. I do feel that this first CT scan is important though as it will tell us how well the MOAS really went and how well my body has healed. The feedback from the surgeons was very positive and they were confident that all the tumour had been removed.....I guess I’ll find out for sure in a few weeks time.
Christmas was good and we had a great time with the family, far different from the year before. The snow that had fallen a week or so before was still hanging around and meant that for Tracey, Jessica, Chloe and me we saw our first ever white Christmas even if it didn’t snow on the day.
New Years was spent at the local rugby club and a good night was had by all. Just after midnight we crept outside to see the usual fireworks and this year’s craze seemed to be Chinese lanterns as masses of them took to the air.
The snow has all now long since melted and we are enjoying a spell of milder weather. The bulbs are pushing through in the garden and buds already starting to appear on some of the plants hinting that spring is just around the corner..........ahhhhh those warm sunny days, I can’t wait!
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Bulbs!!! Spring!!! I just spent the last half hour shoveling six inches of snow from my driveway (and more is rapidly adding up). And I only got half of it shoveled. Great time for my husband to be off at a conference! I wonder if we, here in the US, will need that extra blood test? Is it in response to worries about too much radiation? Well, I suppose I'll find out soon enough : )
ReplyDeleteHi Nancy, I hope you are well? Sorry for not getting back to you sooner but I had problems this end and kept getting error messages! The joys of computing eh?
ReplyDeleteSounds like the weather has been pretty bad with you. Its still cold here with day time teperatures of only 2-3 degrees at the moment but the bulbs seem to be winning the battle. We even have snow drops flowering at the moment.
I'm not sure if the egfr blood test will be carried out in the US but apparently they are new guide lines here in the UK. I asked the nurse who did the test at the local surgery but he didnt know. I'll ask the staff at the CT scanner when I go.
It's hard to believe that this week will be my one year anniversary of the MOAS. How time flies. I have been lucky so far with how well my recovery has gone.
best wishes to you all,
Dave,Tracey,Jess & Chloe