Lauren and her Therasphere mapping.

Hi Everyone,

Lauren had chemo on Wed. and her Therasphere mapping procedure on Thurs. in Michigan. I will go into detail and tell you about it as much as I can. We had to get to the hospital an hour before the procedure. We were in the Radiology area. She was called back to the pre-op area. It seemed as if nothing was going right after that. She had just gone to the bathroom before we went back and of course they needed to do a pregnancy test. So she managed a few drops for them. They had to do a few blood tests. Another nurse came back to start her IV. She tried 2 times and could get nothing. The first time hurt really bad and Lauren told her it was burning. So, Boo to that nurse and she should’ve left well enough alone and let her nurse do it. Her nurse got a good vein on the first poke. Another nurse that would be administering drugs to Lauren throughout the procedure came and got her. Mark and I went to the waiting room, got a pager and went to breakfast. Lauren said a nurse came in and threw her gown up leaving all for the world to see. They had to tape her stomach back tight and of course used silk tape that she is allergic to. They had to remove it and replace it with paper tape. The nurse then said Lauren had to be shaved and of course that nurse had received stitches and couldn’t do the procedure so a male nurse named Steve had to clean her off and shave her. She was so embarrassed. They started to clean the area with chlorhexadene??? not sure what it is called. Lauren is allergic to that as well and needs to be cleaned with betadine. So they had to wash that off and clean with betadine. These allergies are all documented in the cancer center notes. I guess Radiology never got the memo. Her nurse then gave her Versed and Morphine and after that she didn’t care what happened. She was conscious for the whole procedure, but said it only hurt a little when they were doing the artery puncture. She told her nurse and he gave her more happy juice. She said her face was itchy and she tried to get her hand out to scratch. No such luck. Her nurse had to do it for her. Now, if you don’t know Lauren, she is quite the fashionista. She had full makeup on done to a T. Her male nurse took a paper towel and rubbed where she itched. He took her makeup off on that spot which bothered Lauren for the whole time. Only Lauren. Geez. She remembers her Radiologist, Dr. Novelli, doing the procedure. Lauren says she is a very take charge kind of gal and keeps everyone hopping. Dr. Novelli asked about Giovanni because they had a bonding moment at the consult both being Italian and all. Lauren didn’t feel anything when the wire was in or when the dye was injected. They only had to block off one blood supply with a coil that was near her stomach to prevent the radiation from going there. Dr. Novelli put a device called an Angio-Seal in her artery in her groin when she was done. This device seals the puncture site with a small anchor, collegen, and a suture. It is about the size of a pencil eraser. It is supposed to stop bleeding much more rapidly and allow the patient to go home sooner. It will dissolve in around 90 days. She was wheeled over to a holding area and laid there for around 2 hours. She had some kind of scan that I am not really sure of . She thinks it was called a Spec scan. It was kind of like a CT scan. They did two 7 second scans and a 22 minute scan where 2 squares rotated around her, and then a 3 minute CT scan. Then she was brought back to recovery. It seemed to take forever to us and I was getting nervous. When they finally called us back to see her, the nurse said she was sorry and that someone should have come to get us when Lauren was in the holding area. While in recovery, Lauren had to get up and walk and go to the bathroom before getting discharged. She was in some pain. The nurse said the puncture sight would hurt like someone punched her for awhile. We asked if the test was a success and her nurse went and got a nurse practitioner. She said the doctor would have to review all the scans and calculate the amount of dye that went to her lungs. If it is under a certain percentage, Lauren will be able to have the procedure. We then headed home where Lauren is on bed rest for a few days as not to cause bleeding. So we will have to wait to hear from Dr. Novelli. After all the bad things that happened before this test, the test itself and the scan seemed to go very well. So that is all that really matters. Sorry this is so long, but I wanted a detailed account of what went on so others that will have this procedure know what to expect.
Thinking and praying for all of you always.

Love, -Pam