The Hip Bone's Connected To The Crazy Bone
I've entered the crazy, post-cancer arena known as "inscanity." My hip has been hurting for over a month. Oddly, the only time it doesn't hurt is when I'm walking or running. Standing, sitting, even lying down, though, are another story completely and ibuprofin and the like don't help a bit. I finally caved and called my primary care doctor last week and went in for a quick visit. He didn't seem to think anything major was wrong, but for my piece of mind, and at my request, he ordered a bone scan.
I had the bone scan this morning. I arrived at the hospital at 7:30, got an injection with the radioactive tracer that would be absorbed in my bones and highlight any trouble spots. I had to let the tracer circulate in my system for 3-4 hours, so I left the hospital and killed some time until 11. They did a scan of my head, which I'm sure proved to be completely empty, and then one of my whole body. I was trying to strain my eyeballs to see the monitor without actually moving my head, but I couldn't see anything. I asked the tech when I would hear something and he replied with a lot of words but not much information. Something about the results would be sent to my doctors electronically, but sometimes the mail was slow, so it could be 3-7 days. If I thought a second inquiry would have yielded more info I would have asked again, but I knew I would be wasting my breath.
Now I sit here glowing in the dark and I'm surprisingly calm as I wait. Maybe it's my confidence that this will be nothing. I honestly never thought I would be in this crazy mental space, but once you've had cancer, and you have a major pain that doesn't go away, there's really no way to keep your mind from going there. I do hope that I'll be able to find out what is wrong with my hip, mainly so we can stop the pain, but I honestly don't care what the cause of the pain is as long as it's not cancer. I would love to have arthritic hips at the ripe old age of 31.
I'm hopeful that I'll hear something from one of my doctors tomorrow, but sometimes the mail is slow, so I'll let you know when I do!
I had the bone scan this morning. I arrived at the hospital at 7:30, got an injection with the radioactive tracer that would be absorbed in my bones and highlight any trouble spots. I had to let the tracer circulate in my system for 3-4 hours, so I left the hospital and killed some time until 11. They did a scan of my head, which I'm sure proved to be completely empty, and then one of my whole body. I was trying to strain my eyeballs to see the monitor without actually moving my head, but I couldn't see anything. I asked the tech when I would hear something and he replied with a lot of words but not much information. Something about the results would be sent to my doctors electronically, but sometimes the mail was slow, so it could be 3-7 days. If I thought a second inquiry would have yielded more info I would have asked again, but I knew I would be wasting my breath.
Now I sit here glowing in the dark and I'm surprisingly calm as I wait. Maybe it's my confidence that this will be nothing. I honestly never thought I would be in this crazy mental space, but once you've had cancer, and you have a major pain that doesn't go away, there's really no way to keep your mind from going there. I do hope that I'll be able to find out what is wrong with my hip, mainly so we can stop the pain, but I honestly don't care what the cause of the pain is as long as it's not cancer. I would love to have arthritic hips at the ripe old age of 31.
I'm hopeful that I'll hear something from one of my doctors tomorrow, but sometimes the mail is slow, so I'll let you know when I do!
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