Ventilation/Perfusion Scan.... I was forced to breath in radioisotopes -_-
Hello all so here is the shortest version I could devise... 23 Yr old female previous exposure to radiation x2 chest xrays over a 4 yr period, some dental xrays, broke my arm when I was 10 so had one for that, a few long flights here and there and ofcourse being massively irradiated everyday from the notorious fukushima daiichi disaster...
So back to my stint (18 hour) stint at the hospital last night. Had a pain in the chest I couldn't ignore because even lying down made it feel like a ton of weight on my chest. And I had a fantastic epsiode of throwing up mucus and traces of blood. I must say I was spooked because although I am well known to have respitory problems I've never vomitted just mucus and blood before (although it has happened).
My husband insisted I go to the hopital so I went. 6 hours later I met with the inter who basically said everything from your going to die to your bleeding inside to the big C. They insisted on investigating which was not the problem but I specifically requested that radiation be avoided.
Back to sitting in the waiting room and another 6 hours later they come back and say how do you feel about a chest xray to which I say no but they say do it and avoid a CT scan all the while I am having random pain in my chest and back that probably got worse because I was anxious about being in the hospital. They give me the xray which I debated hard about in my mind. Xray finds nothing made to wait another 4 hours they come back to tell me we think you have clots in your lungs??? But the xray is normal???
They go onto insist on a CT scan with dye I fight they say we wont release you which is funny because I was basically admitted into the waiting room. They send a cardiologist to speak to me who basically tells me to do it because they have concluded the risk is there and we discuss my deep concerns over being submitted to do these tests seeing as I already gave in on the chest xray and it came back normal. He is refreshingly honest with me and says well because your young it increases your risks of getting something nasty. I still say no. They still don't let me leave.
Meanwhile my one year old is at home with my husband who has debilitating pain and lost function in his right arm following a motorcycle accident 2 years ago and is struggling to do anything. I am the primary carer of our son and I care for my husband we don't have anyone else. By this time im exhausted and I NEED to get home so I say just do the bloody CT scan. 2 Hours later the take me to the examining area and SUPRISE im having a Ventilation/Perfusion Scan (VQ) scan done instead where I will be required to inhale radioactive isotopes and injected with it as well. A verbal 'fight' ensues over the fact I was told I would be having a CT scan and they basically say well your not leaving till you submitt. They ofcourse reassure me it has less radiation then a CT scan but somehow the act of willingly inhaling radioisoptoes doesnt seem like a much better option.
I start crying and they ignore me for about an hour till I finally give in from exhaustion and the fact I need to get home. So I did it...
Turns out there is no clot or bleeding of any sorts in my lungs and I get sent home and told to take panadol.
I still have the pain but I'm more distressed at the fact they've told me I am radioative for the next 24hours so I still can't go near my son to care for him.
I may seem completley ridiculous but I have been crying for an hour at the thought of this stuff in my system forever and the damage it can pose. I need to be around to take care of my family period. And I have very limited knowledge in this feild so I would greatly appreciate if someone could give it to me straight.
WHAT EXACTLY HAVE I SUBJECTED MY BODY TO?
Also 24hours a safe enough period to keep my distance to my son. The last thing I want is to expose him and I sleep with him because my husband has to sleep alone.
I havent touched him or my husband since I got home 12 hours ago and I've confined myself to one room...
Bluntly put when will I cease to be radioactive and can care for my son and husband. Will sleeping with my son be safe again. How long should I wait?
"Forced"
When you get on a plane the flight attendants will announce, "when the fasten seatbelt light is on the crew is required to tell you to sit down"
This means exactly what it says, no more no less. They are required to tell you to sit down. They are not required to have you arrested if you don't. They are not required to tackle you, drag you by the hair back to your seat and duct tape you to it. All they are required to do is tell you to sit down. This is due to liability.
If the light is on and they tell you it's ok to get up and something happens then you can sue the airline.
If the light is on and you get up under your own recognizance then you can't sue the airline if something happens.
The same principle applies to emergency rooms. If you walk in to the emergency room and announce that you're coughing up blood but then refuse to do any of the diagnostics required to treat you the personnel can't just say "ok, go home now" because if you do and something happens then they're liable and you can sue them.
However, if you put on your clothes and walk out the door against their advice then they're not liable. You're always free to walk out (unless you're on a psychiatric hold or contagious) but you can't always get permission to do it.
YES
Yes! I know what you mean. Poor choice of words on my part. I will however say I refused and wanted to be sent home but they kept saying no. And where I live you have to sign a release to state that you choose to leave dispite the doctors recommendation. Just like I'm sure this applies everywhere else, this is so you can't 'sue' them and trust me where I am suing is not an easy process to accomplish and is done very infrequently... All the same I should not have used the word forced...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technetium-99m
What you took emits gamma-rays with a 6 hour half-life. Congratulations, you are now emitting a noticeable amount of radiation. (which is the point, you have to be able to see the radiation for it to function as a diagnostic) This means that the people in your vicinity will pick up some radiation dose until the isotope decays away.
After 6 hours you'll be putting out half as many gammas as you were initially.
After 12 hours you'll be putting out 1/4 as many gammas
After 1 day you'll be putting out 1/16 as many gammas
After 1 week you'll be putting out 1/3,700,000,000 as many gammas.
So, after a week there's no concern about being around anyone.
As for the radiation dose you will pick up. Well, personally, if I was coughing up blood and the doctor said they wanted to do this test I'd do it.
An increased risk of cancer doesn't matter if you die of something else, first.
Deep breaths. You were already full of radioactive potassium anyway. Just like everyone else since the beginning of time.
Thanks for your reply I
Thanks for your reply I really appreciate it. My concern is mainly for my little boy. I have been in contact with him and my husband today but no kisses and still keeping a distance when I have to. The guy at work wants to 'test' with his geiger counter and is keeping away from me -_-
I do detoxing as part of a daily health regime and I force it upon my family. We have been taking bentonite clay internally and externally, high diet of B-17 also from seeds and chlorella and spirulina just to name a few.
When my husband was in his motorbike accident he was blasted with full body xrays at least twice a day for a week and then the gave him CT scans twice a week. In hospital for about 3 months, He was in a coma so he didnt know but after was told he should avoid radiation because he has definatley had more then he should. So the detox was mainly for him.
Well it's too late to go back now so I am at least comforted by the thought that the all the stuff I've been taking binds to some of it and flushes it out. That and by this time next week I'll be 'ok' to be around.
Cheers mate :)
CHLORELLA?
What kind of chlorella do you take? I heard that most of the chlorella sold in the US is farmed in Japan. Wouldn't this contradict the purpose of taking it in the first place due to contamination?
Where is your source from? If it's not sourced from Japan can you tell me I'm very interested.
I HAVE A STUPID QUESTION!?
I have also had a VQ done while pregnant!
I did look up wiki on how it all works and I really don't understand the following:
"Technetium-99m is used as a radioactive tracer that medical equipment can detect in the body. It is well suited to the role because it emits readily detectable 140 keV gamma rays (these are about the same wavelength emitted by conventional X-ray diagnostic equipment), and its half-life for gamma emission is 6.0058 hours (meaning that 93.7% of it decays to 99Tc in 24 hours). The "short" half-life of the isotope (in terms of human-activity and metabolism) allows for scanning procedures which collect data rapidly, but keep total patient radiation exposure low.
As in all gamma decay reactions, a metastable nuclear isomer does not change into another element (transmute) upon its isomeric transition or "decay"; thus 99mTc decays to technetium-99 (Tc-99, the ground state of the same isotope) and remains technetium. The decay of technetium-99m is accomplished by rearrangement of nucleons in its nucleus, a process that allows energy to be emitted as a gamma ray.
The resulting technetium-99 then decays to stable ruthenium-99 with a half-life of 211,000 years. It emits soft beta particles (electrons) in this process, but no gamma rays (photons). All of these characteristics ensure that the technetium-99 produced from technetium-99m produces very little extra radiation burden on the body." WIKI EXTRACT...
Does this mean that the Technetium-99 then converts to 99mtc then to something else that STAYS in the body. So it never leaves the body at all !!!!
Can someone please explain this? I know very little but I'm curious also.
Nope. Your body will excrete
Nope. Your body will excrete the Tc-99 over time. Tc-99 has a biological half-life of one day.
Which means that:
after one day half of the technetium you ingested will have been pissed away.
after one week 99.2% of the technetium you ingested will have been pissed away.
after one month 99.99999999999999....% of the technetium you ingested will have been pissed away.
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/nuclear/biohalf.html
AND FOR THOSE WHO CAN'T BE BOTHERED READING MY SOB STORY (SORRY)
I'm sorry it's so long but if your dont want to read it. I had a Ventilation/Perfusion Scan inhaled radioisotopes and injected. My questions are...
What is the real risk of ending up with lets say lung cancer seeing as it went directly into my lungs. They said it will leave my body in a few days but my gut feeling says thats probably not true.
Was told I am currently radioactive and to stay away from people for 24hours.
Is 24hours a safe enough period to keep my distance to my son. The last thing I want is to expose him and I sleep with him because my husband has to sleep alone.
I havent touched him or my husband since I got home 12 hours ago and I've confined myself to one room...
Bluntly put when will I cease to be radioactive and can care for my son and husband. Will sleeping with my son be safe again. How long should I wait?
Should I stay away from them longer then 24hours?
Thank you :)