Heart Echo

Monday was the day of my heart echo, apparently routine if you have more than six cycles of ABVD. Initially alarm bells started ringing when my consultant said he wanted to do one, but he reassured me that it was usual and he suspected everything would be fine.

Went out for a walk amongst the countryside in the morning with Mum and Harvey (my dog!) and as it was a nice sunny morning, took some photos! Ended up with Mum lying in the corn to get a photo of a poppy, dedication for you!

An echocaridiogram, to give it its full name, is a scan of the heart, really similar to an ultrasound. Essentially to check the heart is there, still alive and kicking! It was my kind of scan because I didn't have to fast for 12 hours before, of have any radiation which normally makes me puke!

Had to wear the compulsory hospital gown! The echo all in all took about half an hour. It was a painless test although a little uncomfortable at times, when the Dr was probing to get a picture of the bottom of the heart. The worst bit is getting covered in the gunky gel! At times the doctor turned the sound on, and all I could hear was, swish, swish, of what I guess is the blood flowing through my veins. I couldn't see the monitor because I had my back to it so it would have been nice if the doctor had described what he was seeing and doing but he didn't! It has been the same with all the other scans I have had, they don't like to tell you anything at the time, it is down to the consultant to give you the results. Should get the results on Friday when I see my consultant.

Another procedure to add to my list and home for lunch, bonus!

CT Scan

Tuesday was the day of my CT scan at hospital, the appointment came through really quickly.

CT scan (or CAT scan) stands for Computerised (Axial) Tomography scan! It takes a series of X-rays and uses a computer to put them together. The CT machine takes pictures of your body from different angles and the result is a series of images, showing 'slices' through the body. The scanner (see right), is a donut shaped machine, with a moving bed that slices in and out of the scanner.

Wasn't allowed to eat anything after midnight on Monday and was only able to drink water before the scan. I had to wait and hour and a half before my scan in the waiting room. During which time I had a horrible tasting drink to drink, they try to disguise the taste with squash but it doesn't work! It is the 'contrast medium' which is a dye that shows up body tissues more clearly on the scan.

Before the scan you have to wear the attractive hospital gown! And then lie on the bed which is fully extended from the scanner. They put in a catheter so that they could administer more of the dye whilst I was in the scanner. I had to lie with my arms above my head. First they do something called setting the scene, basically setting up for the scan, they look on the TV screens in another room and get you in the right position by moving you in and out the scanner and telling you when to breathe normally or hold your breathe. Once they were happy with the position, the nurse came out to give me the dye, she did worn me of the side effects and they were weird. First you taste metallic in your mouth, then you have a hot flush and then it feels like your weeing yourself, you don't I might add but it is all very strange! And while all that is going on they are telling you when to hold your breath and breathe normally! The scan all in all takes about half an hour.

Then the waiting begins.

Ultrasound then Results.

After becoming very upset that I couldn't stand without being in pain for more than 10 minutes while observing Pilate's, Tuesday was the day of my liver ultrasound.

Wasn't allowed to eat anything before the scan but luckily it was an early appointment. Arrived promptly and was seen almost immediately. Had to change into the attractive hospital gown and then went into a side room which had the ultrasound equipment in it. A doctor performed the procedure, little complication at the beginning as the equipment wasn't set up probably which didn't please him! The squeezy get they use was warm!!! The examination took about 20 minutes, the doctor didn't say anything throughout, at the end he simply said that 'yes, the liver is most definitely enlarged and there are a number of lymph glands present in the stomach', he said there are a number of reason for this and that I would need further investigation, possibly involving a CT scan and a liver biopsy - scary! He would make sure his report was with the GP for my scheduled appointment on Thursday.

I came away with the conclusion that I still had a virus, because my liver was enlarged. Looking back now, the doctor must have suspected lymphoma then.

Wednesday morning, Mum and I went to photography our local church (didn't have my camera at this point so used Mum's) - Mum’s idea, an attempt to get me out and about. It was cold and sunny, we spent about an hour in the graveyard and I took over 100 photos!

Had an appointment with the Osteopath in the afternoon. Decided to stop treatment pending results of scan and on Dr Hoffman’s advice as remaining pain clearly wasn’t mechanical.

Saw GP on Thursday morning. He went through the results of ultrasound and explained they weren’t good, it showed an enlarged liver as suspected and glands in my abdomen. Although the last lot of bloods showed improvements the results of the ones taken on Monday were worse again. Knew in my heart they would be because I hadn’t been feeling right at all, needing to sleep for 2 hours every afternoon isn't normal.

Next steps - GP had already referred me to the Hepatology department at hospital, he said they are the best around to investigate what is going on and they will find out what it was. Asked what he suspected it was and GP said he suspected it was lymphoma, I didn’t have a clue what this was but he described it as being like leukaemia, which didn’t sound too good. The way my GP was being so sincere, I knew it was serious. Had to wait for the hospital to contact us which would be within 14days.

Looked up lymphoma on the internet and two words stood out cancer and chemotherapy.