It Rhymes With Witty

Was scheduled for the PET scan today. Didn't happen. The official word is that since I drank a barium solution yesterday for the CT scan, there may be some of it still left in my body. With it still in my body, it could obstruct and literally create a glowing image that would "overpower" the PET scan images and make them useless. There needs to be a gap of 2-3 days between drinking the barium banana smoothie and a PET scan.

Now this is the funny part and I apologize in advance for the hospital humor. The technician asked me if I had noticed that the barium was leaving my body. I told her I drank plenty of fluids yesterday, so I guess that it was leaving my body. She said, "Actually, barium leaves your body in your stool." Let me ask, "How would I know that and how would I be able to tell if there was some barium in there? Should I turn out the lights and look for phosphorescence or something?" I was reminded of one event last year when I was first admitted to the hospital and the nurse picked up "the pot on the floor" and asked, "Is your urine normally this thick?" I replied, "I normally don't do quality checks on it." Seriously.

As I didn't find out about the need to postpone the PET scan until I was sitting in the chair waiting to have blood drawn, I wasn't amused. My mood was pretty...well...it rhymes with witty. I wasn't feeling too kind to the scheduling folks at the hospital at the time, but time passed and I realized that given the details of what they do, they are entitled to make a mistake every now and then. My inconvenience wasn't life threatening and I know that if it had been, they would have responded appropriately.

From there, I went to the oncologist's office to let them know my scan was delayed (and to also deliver an "anniversary card" to the Nurse Practitioner as it was one year ago tomorrow that we met each other through a bone marrow biopsy). From there, I left the hospital and as I was walking to the car, I met one of the nurses from the clinic on her way into the office. She's also a great soul and we chatted about my morning. Let me interject here that this was another instance of where I see miracles in the world.

Within minutes of talking to her, my cell phone rang and it was the Nurse Practitioner calling to let me know that they would get things rescheduled. Within minutes of that phone call, she confirmed that the PET scan was rescheduled (Thursday at 8AM) and the results appt. with the doctor would be moved from Thursday at 11:15AM to Friday at 2PM. That rearrangement is sitting well with me as I didn't want to wait through the weekend for the results. However, I had resolved that I could, as I did my pity party default of realizing that there are people laying in hospital beds right now with more discomfort and inconvenience than I am experiencing.

Father O'Leary had saved up to buy a new shirt. He went to a tailor's shop, full of excitement. The tailor measured him and said, "Come back in a week, and--if God wills--your shirt will be ready."

The priest contained himself for a week and then went back to the shop. "There has been a delay. But--if God wills--your shirt will be ready tomorrow."The following day Father O'Leary returned. "I am sorry," said the tailor, "but it is not quite finished. Try tomorrow, and--if God wills--it will be ready."

"How long will it take," asked the exasperated Father O'Leary, "if you leave God out of it?"