Put this gown on. And don't breathe...

I did finally hear from the Radiology department at the Cancer Center, about an hour later. My appointment for a CT scan is next Thursday. And, a little less than two weeks later, I'll be meeting with Dr. Stern to go over the results. The timing is very good.

The clerk told me this will be a barium scan, which means I'll have to drink the barium solution, then wait while it's being absorbed into my body. I won't be able to eat anything four hours beforehand. And the whole thing will take about 2 hours.

So, I made notes and will review them before I go to Berkeley.

I've never had a CT scan or anything like that which requires me to drink a solution. The last one, the PET CT scan, required an injection, and then we waited for an hour while I played "Angry Birds" on my iPhone. So this will be quite unusual.

Wikipedia says about the barium sulfate solution:

"Barium sulfate suspensions are provided by a radiologist in advance of a CT scan to allow for better computer tomography of the gastrointestinal tract. The patient is instructed to take nothing by mouth, which means to abstain from eating and drinking (fasting), with the exception of drinking the barium sulfate suspension.

"The amount of time for this fast may vary, depending on the instructions given by the imaging facility and the area of the body to be scanned, but generally lasts for several hours prior to the scan. The patient generally skips one meal, along with abstaining from all liquids, clear or otherwise, during this time. Consumption of the barium sulfate suspension begins 90 minutes to two hours prior to the CT scan, as instructed in the patient education provided. Consumption is paced, beginning two hours before the scan is to occur, with levels marked on the provided container indicating how much is to be consumed between each of the two hours prior to the test. A small portion of the suspension is reserved for the minutes just before the test, to ensure that as much of the gastrointestinal tract as possible is coated. After the scan is complete, the patient is encouraged to eat and drink normally, with special attention to plenty of fluids. The barium sulfate is excreted through defecation. Constipation is a possible side effect."

How pleasant. Time to put the gown back on!