MUGA redux

The end of chemo didn't mean the end of tests and treatment.   Yesterday, I went in for my second MUGA test. I was a bit worried about them accessing my vein a day after chemo but the tech managed it.  It's getting hard and scarred though; sometimes it hurts to bend my elbow.  I don't know how addicts do it - but then again, I guess they have that painkiller thing going on.

To recap, the MUGA test measures the functioning of the left ventricle of your heart, which herceptin can damage. They take some of your blood, make you sit in the waiting room for 30 minutes while they do the Cordon Bleu thing and blend your blood with some radioactive isotopes.  Once your blood is the right mix and consistency, they pipe it back into your body.

The nuclear chef needs to do some more studying - it gave me a huge metallic taste on top of the metallic taste I get from chemo.   Imagine sucking on pennies and then putting a rusty screwdriver in your mouth, and you about have it.

They put you in the gamma scan machine for 20 minutes and you are done.  Results to be sent to the doctor in three days.

Three days for him - for me - I have no idea when I'll actually hear.  I get a slight break from the chemo infusion room - I don't have to go back until the 14th.   I may not find out until then but the one thing you learn in this process is how to wait for test results.

I'll just assume that everything is good until told it is not.

My next medical appointment is April 8.  That will make it full 9 days from one doctor's appointment to another.  That's a record since I was diagnosed and is a sign that I'm on the downside of the cancer recovery process.