I went to have my annual CT Scan today. I need to have one done every year because of the potential for movement or leakage with the stent in my aorta. It was placed there because of a rupture caused by the forced impact of the accident. My heart is quite healthy, but the stent needs to be monitored in order to ensure that there isn’t a leak. I set the appointment for early in the morning because they wanted me to fast for three hours before the appointment and I figured that it would be easiest to go before breakfast and eat something afterward. Also, I didn’t think that the wait would be as long if I scheduled the procedure for the earliest possible time. I set the appointment for their opening hour and I was right about the wait.
Everything went as well as I think it could have with my visit to the imaging center today. In a sense it all started a few days ago when I had a blood sample taken for the sake of today’s scan. They do this in order to check for problems with the kidneys that could lead to further problems caused by the scan, The office manager today was really nice in the way that she dealt with me while getting the paperwork ready for me to have the procedure done. I was surprised to find out that my new insurance company doesn’t require a deductible on this procedure (my former insurance company required a $300.00 deductible, although I have a supplemental insurance policy that would reimburse the full amount). Even the office manager was a little shocked by the fact that I didn’t need to pay any money today… so yeah, yay for me.
Ya know, the vein tapping gets old. (Scan Tracer)
The nurse was careful to answer a couple of questions that I had because of some problems that I experienced with my last CT Scan, and the procedure itself didn’t last more than a few minutes. I really grow tired of doing this every year, but my cardiologist says that it’s a must in order to monitor the stent. I will be seeing him next week for a yearly exam. He does the whole EKG/stethoscope thing. I like him a lot, but I honestly wish that I could do away with the whole medical checkup routine that has become so common in my life since the accident. However, the CT Scan itself is pretty simple. You basically lie down with an IV in your arm for a few minutes. The only uncomfortable part of it involves the dye that they use to trace everything inside of you. It makes your body feel really warm inside, almost as though you’re going to ignite internally. It’s freakish.
Yeah, that's me at the CT.
I sometimes wonder if the person who caused this accident thinks about me at all. I mean, does she ever wonder how I’m doing, or does she ever consider the damage that has been done to my body along with the pain, trouble, and inconvenience that I go through in order to live from week to week with the aftereffects of what happened? On most days it really doesn’t matter to me; I sincerely wish her well. It’s just that on days like this I do wonder if it matters at all to her. I guess that in the end most people live within the boundaries of their own existence. Life goes on, right?
I always ask for a DVD copy of the results for the CT Scan, although I have no idea what it all means. Still, it’s kind of cool to have so many images of my insides. Each CT Scan involves a bunch of different images from the front, side, and top. They run in sequence and you can make them “evolve” as the images go from near-blank to full. Maybe next year I’ll swallow something distinct like a key and look for it in the photos.
This past Sunday I had a member of our church mention to me how much pain I seemed to be in and then ask me to go and take a pain pill between the morning services. I told her that I didn’t have any pain medication, so she told me that I should be certain to take something when I got home later that afternoon. I then clarified that I didn’t have any prescription pain pills at home either. She was a bit shocked by my response. The thing is that I don’t take drugs for pain, not even over-the-counter meds. I just endure until it’s gone because the more severe pain always goes away. I wake up to some degree of pain every day, but I really hate placing more chemicals into my body. I prefer to simply endure the nonsense until my body’s pain receptacles empty out a bit. It’s a daily issue, but most days are fairly mellow. I get a sympathetic look from others from time to time, but they don’t understand that the pain really isn’t that big of a deal. I fight against the pain in my body daily, a...
My previous post had me stating that I knew practically nothing regarding arthritis of the knee and the pains associated with it. I stated that I didn't believe that I've developed arthritis yet. Yeah, I was dead wrong. I looked it up online and the list below describes the things that are involved with arthritis of the knee. I have every single thing on the list, including the "when it's worse" section, except for the bone spurs. I mean, come on, every single thing except one? Sheesh. I feel that I am currently at the so-called moderate level of progress, so I believe that I get to wait a while longer as I keep an eye on the symptoms and determine a proper time for further action. I found online an orthopedic surgeon close to me that takes my current health insurance plan and I hope that we'll both be much older before I ever have to contact him. My motorcycle accident injuries have really caused some damage, and time seems to be proving itself to be a challe...
I was channel surfing a few days ago on one of those evenings where there's nothing interesting on tv. I saw the movie "Monsters Inc. University" on the guide and decided to take a look. As I sat there watching, my wife and my daughter came into the room. I stated that I had never seen the movie, but they corrected me by telling me that we watched it for the sake of my niece on a Thanksgiving evening...the night before my motorcycle accident. I couldn't remember having watched it at all. Although I didn't particularly enjoy watching this film a few nights ago, (sequels are rarely worth the effort) I continued to watch the movie nonetheless. I couldn't remember one scene, one plot line, or one joke. It truly was as though I was watching it for the first time, and I was a little shocked as a result. I must admit that the reason that I continued to watch this film was my hope that a new memory of the night before the accident would be jarred from my mind. It was...
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