//------------------------------// // Scans // Story: Living with Cancer // by Dai Kirai //------------------------------// The first set of tests was on Saturday, two days later. It was the x-ray and CT scan, I had only ever had the first. Radiology, where they would do my ‘scans’ as they are called, were in the basement. So this time when I entered the medical plaza I took the left path to the elevators and took it down one level, there were a few other people going down. Again the path split once the doors opened but right in front was a reception desk that said ‘Radiology’ which made it quite easy. I went to the waiting room after checking in, it was much smaller and could only hold about twelve people. The place was barren, but that could be from it being nine in the morning which really isn’t too bad if taken eight am classes. These tests did let me skip a different test for class to be made up with a paper so there were some up sides. Though an anthropology test would have been more fun that waiting forty-five minutes without a phone or a book or anything. It was so fast last time. I groused. There was a television in the room, a large flatscreen at least forty inches but it looked like an aquarium, soothing but boring. I counted the ceiling tiles, the chairs, stared at my mustard yellow hoof, debated a hooficure. “Die Karai?” The nurse looked befuddled. I hopped off the chair not caring how badly they butchered my name so long as there was something else to do. She took me to a room with several booths in it, like changing rooms in a department store. The nurse turned around to grab something from a cabinet, a small clear bag. “This is for your… Guess you aren’t wearing any clothes.” She handed me the bag anyway. “Feel free to store your bags in there.” She obviously meant the saddlebags I carry everywhere I waved it away, there was no need for it. The bags that always adorned my flanks was pretty empty, with just some paperwork, my ID and visa, some snacks for between tests, and a textbook I was determined not to read. She took me to another room with some large mechanical contraption. I was worried I would have to stretch and contort like with my last x-ray, and was proven right. The first shot was me standing with my side to the machine as the lowered it around me. The next required me to stretch up and rest my hooves on a metal bar then to hold my breathe while they took pictures. Another stretched out my wings. After twenty minutes it was all done, told I could change back into my clothes and leave. I had no clothes to put on so just grabbed my saddlebags and headed out. Hopefully the next one is just as easy. I thought. I made my way back to the main entrance and looked around. What to do for the next two hours. I pondered. It really was a beautiful day, a picnic would be great as my stomach growled. I growled at even bringing food, the sweet fragrance of the apple and the chocolate muffin were so tempting, my mouth watered in anticipation. The CT though required “fasting” so I hadn't eaten all day and wouldn't for a while yet. To the left, between the medical plaza and what had to be the hospital, sat what looked like a little park filled with tables and benches. I sauntered over there, up maybe a dozen concrete steps, and parked at an empty table and people-watched for a while. There were always people coming and going, lunches and conversations had. Even the people stuck in wheelchairs or connected to tubes seemed not unhappy. Something about the breeze through my cornflower blue mane felt soothing as it also ruffled trees and grass. Autumn was just starting. Back home I'd be prepping the winter storms. I sat and just enjoyed it for two hours, I still remember it when I close my eyes. *** The two hours passed like a dream, I nearly forgot about my appointment when I asked a passerby for the time. I really regretted leaving my phone at home, but it's also so hard to remember and unplug it. So I ran, tripped over my own hooves on the stairs, and went tail over teakettle. I grumbled and darted up, back to radiology and this time shuffled off to a different waiting room with more paperwork. These questions were more thorough however, and asked about things like heart disease, diabetes, thyroid disorders, most of it was already filled out for me. It was only a few minutes before they led me to a side room. They directed me to a raised seat. “We're gonna put an IV line in to administer the contrast.” She spoke while using an electric razor to remove some of the fur from the upper left side of my neck. “How much do you want to know as I work?” she felt around and palpated the naked area. I needed to know. “All of it.” I responded. “The IV will be used to inject a dye that will show up on the scans. It will help us better see your insides.” She rubbed the area with a bitter sweet liquid. “Just disinfecting the area with some alcohol. Now you might feel a slight pinch. Normally we do these in the arm but pony anatomy-” there was a slight pressure on my neck followed by the scritch of tape coming off the roll, “is a tad different.” There was the feel of something attached to my neck. “And all done. Let me get you the barium and take you back to the waiting room.” “Barium?” I asked and hopped down. That sounded kinda weird. She pulled some cylinders out of a cupboard with an image of fruit on them and took me back to the waiting room. She poured from one tube and filled a small paper cup. “Drink one cup every fifteen minutes over the next hour. It's another type of contrast agent. Berry flavored, hear it is much better than the chocolate one. Someone should get you after that for your test.” Then she left. I looked down at the white slurry and bubbles on its surface that refused to pop. I raised the cup to my mouth with a hoof and sniffed. How to describe that smell. Sickly sweet, did smell slightly of berries though who could tell which ones, and a little of chalk. I took a sip and felt my throat clench. It was like a viscous powder that slid past yet stuck to everything. I wanted to gag and just stared down the cup for ten minutes. Eventually though I had to drink it and downed it in one gulp. Then refilled the cup, end of tube one. By the end of cup four I could ignore the taste of texture yet was so happy to discard the empty containers in the trash. Soon after another nurse called me back. There was no changing room and instead i was taken to a room with a bed and a large circular machine. She set by bags on a chair, helped my lay with my back on the table and wings outstretched. Then she connected a plastic tube to the needle in my neck and ran to a machine with a large tube of clear liquid. She left the room and the table moved to be situated in the middle of the circle. There were speakers they talked to me through and the ceiling was covered in stars, even if they were just small lights against a black backdrop. The table moved me in and out of the circle while it made a whirring sound. Sometimes they told me to hold my breath. After maybe ten minutes of that they announced “injecting dye” over the speakers. The feeling of warmth started and my neck before spreading to the rest of my body. It felt fake and a bit hot but also not bad in the chilled room. They repeated the first half then announced I was done. The nurse came back out, replaced the needle with a bandage and that was that. Outside of being told to drink plenty of fluids to flush the dye out of my system. I was so happy to get back out into the fresh air. I pulled out that beautiful red apple as it glistened in the sun and took a bite, letting the nectar dribble down my chin. *** The MRI a few days later was much the same except the circle of machine covered my body, was tighter than a coffin and loud as a jackhammer. It lasted an hour with two different injections and a bit of claustrophobia. There was a button I could press if it got to bad. It was tempting as I started to freak out, but I just wanted the stupid test over with and not to have to repeat any part of it. All that was left now was to wait for the results.