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I've been having gallbladder issues recently. In January, my gastro doctor had me go in for an ultrasound. Didn't come up with anything abnormal, but that didn't rule out a gallbladder problem, it just meant that I didn't have any gallstones (which is good, 'cuz from what I've heard, gallstones are hella painful sometimes). So my doctor ordered a HIDA scan. From what I understand about the procedure, it's some kind of nuclear scan-type thing that measures gallbladder functionality. Or something. I'm not really sure, and the particulars aren't something I really cared about. As far as I'm concerned, if my doctors think I need it done, I'll go ahead and do it.
The staff at this particular location of (Local Hospital) Diagnostics aren't the most professional, but it's the location closest to my house. And, apparently, the only one that isn't actually in the hospital that can do stuff like HIDA scans. I'm used to a degree of not-super-professional-behavior, 'cuz let's face it: laid back people are usually a bit friendlier, and sometimes medical procedures are scary. The woman who did my HIDA scan, though, takes the cake for worst person I've dealt with there.
She wasn't mean. She wasn't rough. She didn't have an unpleasant demeanor. All's good, right? Nope. Let me explain the generals of the procedure so you can kind of get an idea of what I was going through this day.
I've been to this place a few times, so I don't know what they have on file and what they don't. I was taken back into the procedure room and asked to verify my name, so I did. I'm not sure about what kinds of radiation/etc, if any, are involved in this procedure, but I'd imagine that it may not always be pregnancy safe. I'm not pregnant, there was no chance at the time that I could have been pregnant, but I was not asked if there was a chance that I could be. It's probably a good thing that I didn't really have to worry about that, though, considering she actually explained nothing to me, including risks.
She also didn't ask me if I have any allergies. I do, actually: to a couple different medications. I... don't know that that information is in the paperwork I filled out for them. Even if it was, most people double-check for safety reasons. Nope, she didn't ask. She set me up with my little IV-thingy in my hand and sent me back out into the waiting room. As I sat there, reading my Cosmo and waiting for the time to pass, my wrist started to get really, really itchy. I looked down. Oh, hello there, Mr. Reaction Hive-and-Rash. Since it's only a small area of my wrist being affected, I don't say anything and assume that's just a side effect of the highlighter gel stuff. Things have side effects, after all.
During this time, my mom comes to wait with me since this procedure could take as long as four hours. I tell her about my reaction, and she recommends that I let the tech know about it when I go back in. Which I do. My exact question was "I had a bit of a rash show up when I was in the waiting room. Is that normal?" She responded that there wasn't usually a reaction to the gel, and that I probably just had a sensitivity to the tape holding my IV connection thingy in.
(Red flags went up here. I've had that kind of bandage tape applied to my skin before for various reasons. Never had a reaction before. Plus, that's not a typical reaction to tape. But hey, she's the tech, not me.)
She starts to scan me to see if the gel has gone through yet. It has, so I'm now her captive audience... for an hour. During this time, I get to hear about the following:
Okay, yeah, small talk. Some people do that. I do that. I generally know not to talk about putting down my pet to a total stranger.
Remember how I said I hadn't eaten for a long time by this point? Yeah, I was starving. So her talking about how hungry she was was... obnoxious, but something I could relate to and tolerate. UNTIL...
She pulled out a box of crackers. And started eating them. Okay, I get it, you're hungry and it's not like you have a back room you can just dash into. But you know the nature of the test I'm having. Why would you eat in front of someone who has not eaten and cannot yet eat? Why are you eating in a medical procedure room?
I couldn't get out of there soon enough, believe me.
Thanks for letting me rant.
The staff at this particular location of (Local Hospital) Diagnostics aren't the most professional, but it's the location closest to my house. And, apparently, the only one that isn't actually in the hospital that can do stuff like HIDA scans. I'm used to a degree of not-super-professional-behavior, 'cuz let's face it: laid back people are usually a bit friendlier, and sometimes medical procedures are scary. The woman who did my HIDA scan, though, takes the cake for worst person I've dealt with there.
She wasn't mean. She wasn't rough. She didn't have an unpleasant demeanor. All's good, right? Nope. Let me explain the generals of the procedure so you can kind of get an idea of what I was going through this day.
- It's a fasting procedure. I couldn't eat for… I can't remember how long, but it was first thing in the morning so I hadn't eaten in over 12 hours.
- A gel-type thing gets injected and it kinda "highlights" your organs. Or something.
- That's when you kinda have to wait an hour to let the gel do its thing.
- After an hour, you go back in and they take pictures and see if the gel has gotten where it needs to go.
- In my case, the gel had gotten to my gallbladder so I then had to lay on a table for an hour as another substance was administered and more pictures were taken.
I've been to this place a few times, so I don't know what they have on file and what they don't. I was taken back into the procedure room and asked to verify my name, so I did. I'm not sure about what kinds of radiation/etc, if any, are involved in this procedure, but I'd imagine that it may not always be pregnancy safe. I'm not pregnant, there was no chance at the time that I could have been pregnant, but I was not asked if there was a chance that I could be. It's probably a good thing that I didn't really have to worry about that, though, considering she actually explained nothing to me, including risks.
She also didn't ask me if I have any allergies. I do, actually: to a couple different medications. I... don't know that that information is in the paperwork I filled out for them. Even if it was, most people double-check for safety reasons. Nope, she didn't ask. She set me up with my little IV-thingy in my hand and sent me back out into the waiting room. As I sat there, reading my Cosmo and waiting for the time to pass, my wrist started to get really, really itchy. I looked down. Oh, hello there, Mr. Reaction Hive-and-Rash. Since it's only a small area of my wrist being affected, I don't say anything and assume that's just a side effect of the highlighter gel stuff. Things have side effects, after all.
During this time, my mom comes to wait with me since this procedure could take as long as four hours. I tell her about my reaction, and she recommends that I let the tech know about it when I go back in. Which I do. My exact question was "I had a bit of a rash show up when I was in the waiting room. Is that normal?" She responded that there wasn't usually a reaction to the gel, and that I probably just had a sensitivity to the tape holding my IV connection thingy in.
(Red flags went up here. I've had that kind of bandage tape applied to my skin before for various reasons. Never had a reaction before. Plus, that's not a typical reaction to tape. But hey, she's the tech, not me.)
She starts to scan me to see if the gel has gone through yet. It has, so I'm now her captive audience... for an hour. During this time, I get to hear about the following:
- She was putting her dog down that afternoon (I think she talked about that for a good twenty minutes)
- Her pressing need to know all about this weight loss regimen I'm on
- How hungry she was
- Other tidbits of her life, her boyfriend, and whatnot
Okay, yeah, small talk. Some people do that. I do that. I generally know not to talk about putting down my pet to a total stranger.
Remember how I said I hadn't eaten for a long time by this point? Yeah, I was starving. So her talking about how hungry she was was... obnoxious, but something I could relate to and tolerate. UNTIL...
She pulled out a box of crackers. And started eating them. Okay, I get it, you're hungry and it's not like you have a back room you can just dash into. But you know the nature of the test I'm having. Why would you eat in front of someone who has not eaten and cannot yet eat? Why are you eating in a medical procedure room?
I couldn't get out of there soon enough, believe me.
Thanks for letting me rant.
Seriously? I was in an ER three weeks previous for palpitations that actually scared me (I had no idea what was going on at the time and my being scared about them actually made them worse) and put on clonidine for my hypertension. Then placed on other drugs which helped lower the blood pressure. Do you want to send me back to the ER? Because I'll be more than happy to send you the huge bill that results from it.
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