My first consult...

My appointment was at 11:00 today for a consult with Dr Feigal. I called Paula up so we could see her while we were up. I was a nervous wreck.
Tom was keeping Ike busy in the kid section and I was hoping that someone was going to tell me nothing was wrong and just go home. The nurse made the decision to have a pap done, which shattered my anxiety about this being just a normal consult into a billion pieces. Get into the hospital gown and sit there trying to keep your ass from hanging out. At least they are real cloth there instead of those horrible paper jobs. So much for keeping a straight face when I see Dr Feigal in social events for the birth center....I don't know why I feel that way since he delivered my son. Just weird I guess. He agreed there was something funky in my abdomen, he went and got the doppler and I was worried that he might find something in there. No baby. Then came the nice exam to see if the top was connected to the bottom, so to speak. I really need to learn how to relax.

He decided a sonogram was in order. I got a nice tetanus and flu shot and then headed down to the sonogram department. Drink four glasses of water...brought back memories of my pregnancy sonogram and almost peeing all over. Tom and Ike got a bite to eat in the cafeteria. I got my water. We agreed to meet back at the waiting room after a certain amount of time so they could go and do something outside the hospital.

In the sonogram room I got to get a first glimpse of Bizarro Pizarro. He was the ugliest thing. You know how people always say "I can never tell what they are looking at when we get an ultrasound?". Shit, if they didn't see what I saw, they would have to be blind. The sonogram lady (tech, dr, rn?) told me pretty early on that this thing represented surgery. even though I answered "I figured", it freaked the crap out of me. I found myself watching her every move to determine if there was a clue to my mortality in there somewhere. She seemed positive...good, right? I asked her "so how big is it, like size of a grapefruit" she said "no, it is too big for me to measure with this machine". Wow, double crap. That was what she was doing as she drew her points way outside the the bell shape of the scan.

Back up to Dr Feigal's office. Yes, it is big...now lets get you in for a CT scan. I hoped to see Tom on the way out but didn't. He had no idea I ws going in for another test. Back down to the same area to get a CT. I waited in the lobby for a few minutes and was given a cup of koolaide to drink. At least it wasn't lime flavored. I can't drink lime koolaide. Reminds me too much of the Jonestown Massacre.

Would I have drunk it so readily if I knew it was a radioactive substance? Not sure.

20 minutes later I was led to the CT room. Imagine a big white room out of "2010" or *insert any other minimalistic sci-fi movie here*. The CT scanner was a donut shaped device with a bed tracking through the middle. It looked like a small "Stargate", again with the sci-fi crap. Off to the left of it was a large pivoting bionic arm suspended from the ceiling. I was asked a few questions (none of which were "are you breastfeeding?") and then laid down on the track bed which my big ass fit with little room to spare. They had mentioned an I.V., but I never imagined it was the bionic arm. on the arm was a digital display and controls above a dual cannister that looked quite a bit like a lethal injection. They never told me what was in those syringes. It was "dye" not radioactive iodine. The arm forces those two cylinders of dye into your I.V. line really quick right before they make a pass over with the CT. My little cyclotron started to rev up..I noticed there was a teenie notice that said "do not look into the laser, blindness can occur." Screwed my eyes tight real quick! Then the preprogrammed voice talks to you, saying "take a breath, and hold" as you slide in and out of the stargate. Then "breathe normal". Right after the first of the two stages of the scan, Tom and a very wide eyed Ike come into the room (okay, Tom's eyes were a little wide too). After a few pleasantries and WTF's, they were ushered out for the next wave. That was it, all over. *Little note, radioative iodine takes awhile to get out of your system. Not a fun time for breastfeeding mothers without backup. Tom had a long night upstairs with Isaac and I slept downstairs.*

Back to Dr. Feigals office. Again.

At Dr. Feigals office we discussed options. He asked if we wanted to stay at the hospital or find a specialty group. Told him I wanted to sleep on it. Got copies of the CT and sonogram in case we decided to go elsewhere.
We stopped by the birth center on the way home to talk to Paula. Chatted about the pro's and con's of all options.