The "C" Word

Part 3

The First Tests

Dr. Perotto arranged to have the tests done at Nazareth Hospital in Northeast Philadelphia. At the time it was the closest hospital to my home. I had about five tubes of blood drawn for a complete set of blood tests. Then I had the first of a series of tomograph X-rays. I had to lay flat on a narrow table while the X-ray head moved in a slow arc over me. This process was repeated several times. I then had to stand for a full series of upper body films.

The last test of the day was something called a gallium scan. I was injected with a dye containing a small amount of radioactive gallium. I remember that the syringe I was injected with was sheathed with a metal cover. It made me a little nervous. This stuff was sufficiently radioactive that the technician needed protection, but it was being injected into my body! I was told to sit for a few minutes while the dye spread through me. Then I had to lie still while a sensor head scanned every inch of my body from head to toe. This took about an hour.

Dr. Perotto must have lit a fire under somebody's seat because the test results were ready the next morning. My next stop would be American Oncologic Hospital.

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