Tonight's picture was taken on February 13, 2009. This was a Mattie creation! A large prop plane! Leave it to Mattie!!! He was fascinated by all forms of transportation, even as a baby and toddler. Mattie used all found materials at the hospital to create this plane in the child life playroom. So many wonderful memories were created in that room.
Quote of the day: Today's coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins.
- Number of people diagnosed with the virus: 77,043,242
- Number of people who died from the virus: 908,619
Today was quite the day! I took my dad for a Lexiscan in Arlington, VA. This is a type of nuclear scanning test. It shows how well blood flows to the heart muscle. The Lexiscan stress test involves injecting a medication called lexiscan into your IV while you are closely monitored. The medication makes the heart respond as if you are exercising. This test is used for people who are unable to exercise or can’t exercise for very long.
My dad had to fast starting at midnight, and therefore couldn't have breakfast today. So my strategy was to eat cereal before I woke him up. Then I woke him up, got him showered, dressed and in the car. Not watching us eat breakfast, was a good plan.
Honestly there is NO way to appropriately prepare an older person for any sort of scanning procedure. These are just stressful and very tiring procedures for them. Then add mid-late dementia to the equation, and all I can say is WOW!
My dad's test was FOUR HOURS today. The tech who worked with us was wonderful and he had NO problem with me being in tow. Smart man! In fact, at the end of FOUR HOURS he told me I was a life saver, and made the procedure more bearable for my dad. I agree 100%, for multiple reasons.
This is a three staged procedure. So that alone confused my dad. I had to explain over and over the stages and what step we were on. I had to prep him for what he could be feeling at each of the stages. But most of all, I had to help him in and out of clothes, to the bathroom multiple times (as the Lexiscan agent caused him to have diarrhea twice during the test), up on the procedure tables and the Lexiscan machine. The machine was a total nightmare for my dad.
My dad has stenosis, and his upper back and neck are frozen forward. Meaning that he can't lie flat. Which is required for this machine. In addition, you have to lift your arms over your head and hold them that way for 18 minutes of the test. Impossible for my dad. His body is frozen in a way that prevents him from lying flat and forget his range of motion with his arms. It is awful. To get his arms to stay slightly above his head, the tech taped his elbows and I grabbed his hands and held them above his head for the entire length of the procedure. My dad is exhausted tonight, and I am not far behind.
Every step of the test required walking from one location to the next, then lots of waiting around and frankly I have no idea how an older person does any of this without an advocate or family member in tow. My dad survived the procedure, but if you ask him, he will tell you this is one of the worst things he has ever done. He looks and sounds wiped out tonight.
This is what the Lexiscan looks like (below). This isn't my dad in the photo, but you get the idea. The steps for the procedure are below. After the scan was over, I drove back to the house, picked up my mom and then took them out to lunch. Needless to say, I spent an inordinate amount of the day driving around on top of helping my dad with this test. The good news is all his scan results from yesterday and today came back normal.
- During the first part of your test, a nuclear medicine technologist will place an IV into a vein in your arm or hand and inject a small amount of cardiolite. Cardiolite is a radioactive tracer -- it is not a dye. It will be necessary for you to wait approximately 30 minutes after the cardiolite injection to allow it to circulate.
- You will then be asked to lie very still on a special table under a camera (“gamma camera”) with your arms over your head for about 12-15 minutes. The camera will record images that show the cardiologist how efficiently blood is circulated through the coronary arteries to each area of the heart muscle at rest.
- During the second part of your test, a stress lab technician will prep ten small areas on your chest and place electrodes (small, flat, sticky patches) on these areas. The electrodes are attached to an EKG monitor that charts your heart's electrical activity during the test.
- You will lie on an exam table while the technician performs EKG’s and blood pressures while you are lying down, sitting up and standing.
- Next, a medication called lexiscan is injected into your IV by a nurse, respiratory therapist or physician over 20 seconds while you are either walking very slowly on the treadmill or sitting on the side of the exam table moving your legs in a walking motion.
- A nurse, respiratory therapist or physician will flush your IV with saline immediately after injecting the lexiscan. A small amount of cardiolite will be injected into your IV 10-20 seconds after your IV is flushed with saline.
- Your blood pressure will be taken after the cardiolite is injected into your IV and every two minutes in recovery.
- Please tell the technician immediately if you feel pain or discomfort in your chest, arm or jaw or if you feel short of breath, dizzy, headache, lightheaded or if you have any other unusual symptoms at any time during the test. The symptoms will go away typically within 3-4 minutes after the lexiscan injection.
- Your heart rate, EKG, and blood pressure are monitored throughout the test. The stress lab personnel will watch for any changes on the EKG monitor that suggest the test should be stopped. A physician is available if needed.
- When the lexiscan portion of the test is completed, your IV will be taken out. You willwait for approximately 30-60 minutes after the cardiolite injection to allow it to circulate, then you will be asked to again lie very still under the camera with your arms over your head for about 12-15 minutes. The camera will record images that show the cardiologist how well blood circulates through the coronary arteries to each area of the heart muscle during cardiac stress. If a part of the heart muscle doesn’t receive a normal blood supply, less than a normal amount of cardiolite will be in those heart muscle cells.
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