Let the testing begin! Warning…this may be boring and I get it. Feel free to skip …

I have an appointment tomorrow morning at Florida Cancer Center for my CT scan. As I’ve said in the past, it is important to always be your own advocate. In this case, scheduling was being held up by a lack of confirmation with Florida blue Cross Blue Shield.. I assured the scheduling agent that I would pay out-of-pocket and worry about reimbursements later, so she was able to get me on the schedule for tomorrow. Just hours later, the approval came through.

This morning I went back in to get another blood test for my kidney function which must be checked before a CT scan apparently.

The focus of this assessment is POC creatinine testing to assess kidney function before people have intravenous contrast for CT imaging. Intravenous iodine-based contrast agents used in CT scans can cause acute kidney injury (AKI), particularly in people who are at high risk and those with known kidney dysfunction

The directions for the CT scan are pretty straightforward. Nothing to eat after 8 AM and then I report to the cancer center where I get to drink some delicious lemonade flavored radioactivity, and an hour later, have my scan.

The liquid that I will drink tomorrow is instead of the barium, which you may remember made me extremely sick, and was totally disgusting.

It was only after speaking to a technician, on my way out from the scan that I found out about an alternative method Breeza flavored beverage for neutral abdominal imaging is a non-carbonated, sugar-free, gluten-free beverage with a light, refreshing lemon-lime flavor and a viscosity of 10.5cP which is slightly more viscous than water, providing a better “mouth feel” and palatability for patients. (You’re welcome for the free advertisement Breeza. )

Normally, I would see the doctor to go over the scan next day, which is Thursday, but Dr. Berry is so booked that I can’t get in until Monday. I will try to get in this week should he have a cancellation but I might have to reconcile myself to not knowing what’s going on until next week.

Enough medical. Did you skip to here anyway?

I am floating on an RSO high right now. No pain, drooping eyelids, being not doing.

I had the best phone call with Sue The cool thing about Sue is that even when i am high , we can be on the same frequency. My conclusion is that Sue is always on a natural high

Sue had written an email to everyone who had attended the Suncoast animal alliance meeting. She attached an excel spreadsheet. The letter was beautifully crafted and was business style with lots of warmth.

The funny thing is that for all the years that Sue snd I have worked together, she downplayed her skills and asked me to write or create.

That was a gift for me. It was more then fine with me. The freedom to create for a passion that I have. What a privilege. I love that I live in the Animal Rescue Community.

But back to Sue….

On the aforementioned phone call, I teased Sue about her hidden talents. She laughed. But seriously, Sue is the friend who constantly calls me For tech support. Have you tried turning it off and on again I would ask. It could’ve been a sitcom episode.

But behind the act of “I’m an old lady” coupled with her reluctance to learn anything technical, well behind that lay hidden talents. Sue snd I laughed about this …laughed hard and then harder when she stated “I have many hidden talents but my greatest talent. It’s easy! Find someone else to do it !