Blackberry's journal

Well the myocardial perfusion scan wasn't too bad.

I deliberately got there early only to find they were running 30 minutes late, of course.

First of all they weighed me to calculate how much of the unclear stuff to give me and then they took my blood pressure rather painfully, saying "Ooops!  It got a bit enthusiastic there!"  Then they inserted a cannula in my other arm and spent 4 minutes injecting me with radioactive stuff at the same time as giving me an ECG and "stressing" my heart by making me lift each leg alternately, bending the knee and touching the heel on the bed then lifting it and straightening it again.  It doesn't sound like very much, but for someone with dodgy knees, lying perfectly flat on one of those hard examination couches, it quickly produced a torturing back ache, painful knees and wobbly leg muscles;  eventually she told me to just draw my heels back and forward without actually lifting the feet from the couch, which was marginally better.  All through this I kept having my blood pressure taken every so often.

Afterwards I had to have a sit down for a few minutes, because I felt so wobbly.

Then I was told to go away for an hour, drink as much as possible, including any of the stuff that had been prohibited for the previous 24 hours, and go for a short walk.

I really enjoyed my giant mug of filtered black coffee and bottle of apple juice, but the wholemeal egg mayonnaise sarnie was pathetic and, I thought, rather expensive at £1.99 although John assures me that they cost well over £2 in motorway service area shops.

Back I went to wait a little longer and then went for the scan itself.  They reattached me to an ECG machine and explained the procedure.  When I asked why I'd still got the cannula in my arm he said that it was in case they needed to given me anything!!  I can't say that made me feel very confident, but actually it was a piece of cake, except for having to keep still with my hands above my head for about 30 minutes.  I made him give me a pillow to go beneath my knees, because I knew that if I lay flat without moving for 30 minutes, I wouldn't be able to walk when it was over.

Again, thank God, it wasn't a tube I had to be put in but a device looking a bit like a huge half open book that came down close to my body and moved itself every time it took a picture

It was all very tedious and, of course, I got a horrible tickle in my throat that made me want to cough, and wandering leg syndrome, which I tried to relieve by just wiggling my toes.

Afterwards he removed the electrode patches and the cannula and let me go.  I had to go and sit for a few minutes in the waiting room before I felt able to leave.

If Dr Adams wants more information, I may get called back in a few weeks' time for another test, this time "At Rest"

I've felt absolutely shattered for the rest of the day and am planning to go to bed shortly because I'm still so tired!

John is fed up as his personal TV has stopped working and refuses to turn on.  Of course, it's just out of warranty and we never buy those expensive insurances, so tomorrow we have to try to find someone to look at it.  Comet offered to do so, but I expect they have to send it away, and if it's not economic to fix it we'd like to know as soon as possible so he'll be able to buy a new one while the sales are still on.

I've offered him mine in the meantime on condition that I don't have to keep running backwards and forwards helping him use it.  He has refused!  There's nothing I want to watch anyway.

Oh Joy!!  Tomorrow I have an appointment at 9.30 with the dentist for more root canal work!