You Want To Put That Radioactive Dye Where?

Oh, in yet another painful IV in my arm and inject me with that stuff? Awesome. I had a test on my gallbladder today to see if it's the culprit behind my abdominal pain and digestion issues. I had to arrive around 7:45am, which meant I had to wake up earlier than normal, and I wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything. Boo.

The technician puts an IV in my arm and informs me that she's going to inject a radioactive dye into my arm where it will filter into the liver and light up the camera that's above my head. She informs me the dye won't hurt (hmm, then why the hell is my arm burning?) and that I can watch the progression of the dye into my liver on the camera. I have to admit, it was pretty neat. The camera screen is blank for about 5 minutes, and little by little, a hazy blob shows up, and eventually my whole liver is lit up like the fourth of July. About 45 minutes in, a smaller blob shows up, which is my gallbladder. The liver is doing it's job and passing the dye into the gallbladder. After an hour is up, the tech inserts a reactor dye into my veins that will force the gallbladder to start pumping the fluid into the small intestines.

What the doctor will be looking for is how fast the fluid moves into the intestines, how much of it moved, and if there are any gallstones blocking the fluid, etc. All very fascinating to see on screen. I'm just hoping I don't have radioactive pee for the next few days!

Now it's just a wait and see game. It takes around 24-48 hours for results. Hopefully they will figure out the cause of my pain, because I'm really over being stuck with needles!