Testing Days 2 & 3

Last week I completed my first 3 days of testing. I already posted about day 1, so now it's time to fill you in on days 2 & 3, which were definitely not as easy as the first day!

Day 2:

My first appointment of the day was to have blood drawn, and I had to fast for 12 hours, having nothing except water. This wouldn't have been such a big deal, except that I get migraines and one of my triggers is going too long without eating. I told myself I was most likely going to get one. Also, I hate having blood drawn. Hate it! I can remember having it done when I was little and screaming and throwing a fit before they even came close to sticking me with a needle. All morning I just keep telling myself it wasn't going to be a big deal, and it would be over with before I knew it. I have donated blood a few times, and this couldn't be as bad as that, right? As the nice little guy was getting me all ready, I just looked away the entire time. As long as I didn't see it happening, I figured I would be fine. I was for the first couple of minutes, but this was not just a typical blood draw where they fill up just one tube. I swear it felt like they were filling up 50 tubes! I started feeling lightheaded, but I just kept telling myself it would be done soon. Then I started breaking out in a sweat, and my ears started plugging up, a sure sign I was about to pass out. Eventually the guy realized I wasn't doing so well, so he started fanning me off and opened up an alcohol wipe and placed it under my nose. Luckily, that did the trick and I started feeling better shortly after. This experience does not make me look forward to my next fasting blood draw later this week, but I'll make sure to have some of those alcohol wipes close by! 

After that was over, I had to give a urine sample, and then they gave me this nifty, rather large red container and explained that I have to use it to collect all of my urine for the next 24 hours. Yes, every time I have to pee, I have to pee into a cup and dump it in this container. Thankfully I ended up taking the whole day off work, because I certainly would not want to have to carry that around with me! 

By this time I was absolutely starving, and could feel a headache coming on. Unfortunately, I couldn't eat or drink anything yet because I had a CT angio coming up. I've had CT scans before, but this was my first one where they injected the contrast along with it. They gave me an entire outfit to change into. Pants, gown, robe & booties. I was so thankful to have something with more coverage, so I didn't have to worry about flashing everyone like the day before. As I'm putting on the pants, I quickly realize they are way too small. I thought I could make them work, but could barely squeeze them over my hips and I knew if I sat down I would rip them! As I bent down to grab my clothes and leave the room, they totally ripped, haha. The lady started laughing, and kindly gave me a new pair that fit much better. 

After I was all changed and situated, they got an IV started in my arm. I had a much better experience with that than I did when they drew blood. After that I had to sit around and wait for a while, but while I was waiting, a lady came around with a dog to visit all the patients in the waiting room. I can't remember what type of dog it was, but it was so stinkin cute. The rescue group brings dogs in to Mayo every day to visit with the patients. I thought that was neat. It was finally time for me to go back for my scan. Once I was on the table, they hooked up my IV, and told me what to expect once they injected the contrast. They said I would have a funny taste in my mouth, and my body would get really warm. First they injected saline, and it was really weird to feel the cool sensation move throughout my body. Next came the contrast, and sure enough I had the weird taste in my mouth and my body was instantly warm. One thing I heard happens, but forgot about it and the nurse never said anything about it, was that having the contrast injected can make you feel like you are peeing. I guess because they inject it so fast and the way it rushes through your body can cause that. Sure enough, that's exactly how it felt. I would have bet money that I seriously peed all over the table. It was the weirdest feeling ever! It all only lasted a couple of minutes, then I felt like normal again. 

After that I was done for the day. I ate something right away, to try and help myself feel better, but by that point my migraine was just about full force. I went home, with my big red jug, and went right to sleep. Unfortunately, the nap didn't help with my headache. I tried all of my usual tricks...a hot bath, heating pad over my face, my head massage helmet, nothing worked. I even called my mom, just to talk to someone for a while in hopes that occupying my mind with something else would help. Nope. Finally, I broke down and took a Goody's headache powder and went back to sleep. Finally, around 8pm I started feeling better and was able to get out of bed and function. I haven't had a migraine that bad in a while. What a rough day!

Day 3:

I was dreading this day. I had a test originally scheduled for mid October, and it was moved up because they had an opening in their schedule. It was an Iothalamate renal clearance test. I had no clue what this procedure was or how it was done, and I couldn't really find anything online about it either. So, I was a bit anxious. It turned out to be one of the easiest things I've had to do so far! I basically got to sit in a recliner, kick my feet up, and watch TV for a couple of hours. 

Of course, there was other stuff going on too, it wasn't quite that easy. I had to give a urine sample to start off, and then while I sat there I had to continually sip on something. I chose ginger ale. After an hour, the nurse came in, took a urine sample, and drew my blood. This blood draw was much smaller than the day before, thankfully! Then it was back to drinking again for another hour. After an hour, same thing. Urine sample and blood draw. Then, she did a quick ultrasound of my bladder, and I was all done. Not scary at all! My nurses name was Sara, and she was just so amazed at what I was doing. She was so sweet. She shared some stories with me about transplants that have happened at Mayo. Pretty amazing stuff. She also started telling me about a lady who was currently across the hall going through the same testing I was. She was being tested in hopes of donating to her husband. She asked if I'd like to meet her, to get an idea of what it's like to live with someone who is on dialysis. I said of course! She brought her over and introduced us. Her name is LaDonna. She told me a little about her husband. He's 43, and I believe she said he has dialysis 3 days a week. I believe she said he has kidney failure due to hypertension. His son was tested, but he was not a match. LaDonna went in to be tested (without telling her husband) and she turned out to be a match! She shared the news with her husband, and now she's undergoing all of the same testing I am to see if she can be approved as a donor. We exchanged information so that we can keep in touch. It's so nice to have someone who is going through exactly the same thing I am. I'm looking forward to following her journey, and I pray everything works out for her and her husband. 

My last appointment for the week was to get my 24 hour blood pressure monitor. I hate to complain about something so minor when there are so many people out there suffering things much worse, but this monitor was so annoying! It would randomly go off every 3 to 30 minutes. Whenever it started, I had to stop what I was doing and stand still until it was done. I barely got any sleep that night. I wore it to work the next day, since I had to have it on until 2pm that day. Not a lot of people at work know that I'm going through testing, and it don't think most people noticed the bp monitor, but I did have a meeting that day, and of course it went off a couple of times. It was funny to watch everyone looking around to see where the noise was coming from, until I explained to them I was wearing a bp monitor. I was very glad to be able to take it off!

This post has taken me a long time to write, seeing as it's almost been a whole week since all of this happened! Last week was exhausting, and I guess I needed a break. I go back to Mayo tomorrow for some more appointments, so I'll try to update everyone again tomorrow evening. Tomorrow is also another fasting blood draw, let's hope it goes better than last week!