CATs PETs MRIs, OMG

(Part the third)

At this time, I had another MRI, another CAT scan and a PET scan. They are all similar where you are put on an uncomfortable flat board and fed into a hole going through a big noisy machine. MRIs are the noisiest, they sound like a washing machine filled with jackhammers. CAT and PET scans are quiet but are boring and claustrophobic. When you have a CAT scan you have to drink this horrible ‘shake’, which is invariably ‘banana’ ‘flavored’. It’s either to irradiate your insides or cause you to throw up, I forget which. When they gave me the PET scan to make extra sure that I wouldn’t move or see them laughing at me, the technician actually taped my head to the board. They also have music piped into headphones to mask some of the machines’ noise. On this visit, they played ‘Spirit in the Sky’ where they sing about where you go when you die, which was really thoughtful of some programmer.

Dr. Hu, who coincidentally plays tennis with Dr. Coit, thought I should consult with a fourth doctor, Dr. Blum (not to be confused with Doctor Bloom). Being the head of Oncology at Beth Israel he knew a lot of doctors and their specialties. One that he knew was a Dr. Alexander Marie Eggermont of the Netherlands. He does a process called an isolated limb perfusion to sarcomas of the arms or legs and after checking all my tests and a library’s-worth of paperwork, told me I would be an ideal candidate for the procedure.