The Mayo Experience - Day 1

[Guest guest]

I'm exhausted. It's only the first day of tests, and I feel like I

have run a marathon. I guess in some ways I have.

The trip out here was largely uneventful. Outside of an aborted

landing during a driving rainstorm in Minneapolis (a bit unnerving),

it was eight hours of waiting in airports and boring, packed flights.

But, the luggage wasn't lost, which for me is a huge stroke of luck.

The testing began this morning. Mayo Clinic has each patient's

schedule timed down to the minute, and most impressively, they stick

to the schedule. I don't know how they do it. They have hundreds of

patients in varying stages of mobility and physical condition, and yet

they still manage to get the tests run on time.

I imagine that all of these tests are part of the transplant

evaluation routine. In my case, since there is some concern about

cholangiocarcinoma, there will be a couple extra procedures, but this

protocol is probably typical for transplant candidates.

My day started with a visit to the transplant center. There, they

gave my my schedule for the week and a backpack(!) filled with medical

records and test orders.

From there, I went to a different building for arterial blood gas

testing. I had never had one of these tests before. It hurts. The

needle goes into an artery on the inside of your wrist. That's a

sensitive area anyway, and you definitely feel the needle.

After my wrist was nicely packaged and wrapped, I proceeded back to

the first building for blood tests...16 tubes of blood, by my count.

I was also given two small urine sample bottles with instructions to

fill one immediately. Then came the highlight of the day. The nurse

pulled out what looked to be a gallon milk jug and instructed me to

collect all my urine in it for the next 24 hours. They did give me a

brown bag to keep things a wee bit discreet (no apologies for the

pun). My bottle is sitting next to me right now in the hotel, about

1/3 full. Disgusting. I'll be glad to turn it in tomorrow.

Next up was a trip to Nuclear Medicine and an injection of contrast

agent in preparation for a bone scan later. I was instructed to drink

plenty of water right after the injection. That answered the question

of how I would ever fill up my gallon jug.

I was zipping through the schedule, and it was only 10:30 am. Problem

was, I was fasting for the blood work, and not having food for 16

hours was starting to take its toll. I guess I'm not very tough, but

if I miss a meal, I get cranky. It was all I could do to keep a stiff

upper lip.

Next stop, another building for a full body CT scan. I got to drink

16 ounces of a vile, vanilla flavored contrasting agent. After not

eating for so long, it tasted like a steak. despite the bitter

aftertaste. The gave me about 45 minutes for the junk to work its way

through the digestive tract, and I walked into the CT scanner room. I

was hooked up to the iodine contrast agent, and promptly felt like I

had an accident in my pants. According to the technicians, it's

normal to feel hot " down there " shortly after the iodine is injected.

That was a relief. I'd hate to think I lost the opportunity to

contribute to my bottle.

What isn't normal is severe nausea during the scan, but true to form,

I started gagging as soon as the imaging was done. Fortunately, they

got all the pictures they needed. Even more fortunate was that there

was nothing in my belly to throw up, so it was just ten minutes of dry

heaves...painful, but not messy.

I was allowed to eat a light lunch, which I did. Eating light can

settle the stomach, I'm happy to say.

Now it was time to go back to Nuclear Medicine for the bone scan.

This test is designed to find small fractures or metasticizing

diseases. It's an easy one. Just lie still for 25 minutes and let

the machine do the work.

Last test of the day was a chest X-Ray. Very simple and routine.

With that, I came back to the hotel and promptly crashed on the bed

for a couple hours.

We don't have results from any of the tests yet. Those will come in a

couple days when we meet with the doctors.

Overall, I'm very impressed with Mayo. The people here are

outstanding, caring, and dedicated to providing the highest level of

service to the patients.

I've rambled on far longer than I intended, so I'll stop here. More

details will come tomorrow.

Tom

PSC 1999

UC/Crohns2004