Thursday, July 20, 2006
The power of a blog
Ok I wish I was saying that blogs had the power to bring chocolate into one's life from Dell as an apology for shitty tech support, but alas, I cannot.
Today we had a patient who made me realize how important what one says on a blog can be. When asked if she had ever had the scan before, or if her doctor had explained it to her she said no, but she knew what to expect because she read about it on someone's blog.
Apparently she just did a blog search on the word HIDA scan and read about people's experiences. Fortunately, she read some good ones, and basically knew what to expect. It got me curious so I just spent the last few hours searching blogs which mention Nuclear Medicine Scans. I have to say, it made me sad.
So many people have had bad experiences, and mostly it seemed that it was because the technologists (yes, that's what tech stands for, not technician) either were uncaring, or did not bother to adequately explain what the test was about.
I was amazed at how many people described what happened incorrectly. One woman who had a Nuclear Cardiac Stress Test said that the thallium that they gave her to stress her heart had bad side affects. Thallium doesnt stress a heart, all it does is allow us to take pictures of it. She most likely had either Adenosine or Persantine as the stress agent. The fact that she had no clue what medications were coursing through her veins is pretty scary!
I figured Id try and mention as much as I could about Nuclear Medicine tests, so if someone else tries to search blogs for info, they will hit on this site. And then they can get the true scoop
For those of you who dont know, I am a Nuclear Medicine Technologist. What makes nuc med different from the other imaging modalities is that we image how things work more than how things look. Usually people get injections of radioactive tracers (NOT dyes!) or they will take a radioactive iodine capsule or pill, or eat a meal that has a tracer in it. The scans are usually very long, and often have a delay in between.
Our most common scans are Bone Scans, HIDA scans (aka hepatobiliary scan), Gastric Emptying scans, Thyroid scans, MUGA (aka RVG) scans, and Cardiac Stress Tests. (usually done with Cardiolite). We do more but those are the biggies. We also do PET scans.
Alot of our patients have cancer and we help with staging. Many of the bone scans are for mets, but we also do a huge amount of bone scans for things like stress fractures or infection (osteomyelitis). A few years ago I needed a bone scan and was completely freaked out when I went to schedule it as the scheduler asked me if it was for staging or a recurrence of cancer. I was all "I DONT HAVE CANCER" and then the little voice that I shouldnt listen to said "what if the doctor secretly thinks I do and this is how she's finding out?" A ton of anxiety that was totally unnecessary if the test had just been explained correctly. If youre having any nuclear med test and we ask you if you have a history of cancer, it's just a standard question, dont freak out. It usually just means we take some extra pictures if you do, not that we think that you secretly have it.
And on the subject of extra pics- dont let those freak you out either. Sometimes we just need a different angle to prove something is normal, not that it's abnormal.
We also treat thyroid cancer. This is what I saw the most people complaining about on their blogs. Cancer is a scary word, and being told that youre radioactive and need to isolate yourself is overwhelming. Add to that the fact that you have to be off of your thyroid meds so you feel like youre walking through an ocean of jello and I can see how overwhelming the whole thing is, and how compassionate techs are so important.
Anyway, if youve googled or searched blogs and found me, please drop me a comment if you have any questions about an upcoming test. All the comments forward to my email and Ill happily let you know what to expect and answer any questions that I can.
Since it's Thursday Ill end this with a haiku or 4...
blogs can have power
people look for answers there
i hope this helps some
nuc med sounds scary
radioactivity
can be your friend too
mean techs should not work
being sick is hard enough
compassion is key
i love what I do
helping find symptoms answers
gives diagnosis
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What a terrific idea -- a great way to use your blog! You rock!
Im really glad to know someone so knowlegable about the medical world -
You DO Rock!