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anyone ever have a radioactive bone body scan?

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Posted 4/21/2006 3:57 AM (GMT 0)
i have to have one of these. they give you a shot and then tell you to go and drink a lots of water then come back to scan you.

does the radioactive junk they put inside you hurt you?

what is this gonna tell me that i dont already know?

thansk all

Posted 4/21/2006 5:10 AM (GMT 0)
hi missie,

 

the BoneScan is very cool.  it is a bi*** what happened to you with the scheduling i must admit. i mean, what if a person was really sick & couldn't make it?  they'de still make ya shell out the dough? confused geezaloo.

 

actually, the bone scan is safer than skull XRAYS skull .

because radiation is not being shot at you like xrays, the bone scan actually has less exposure radiant than xrays. cool huh?

the dye is super quick. the tech will insert an IV for a few seconds & that's it! no burning, no pain.  it contains calcium too (that's how it binds with some other chemicals to reuptake into the bones).

the drinking of fluids is so that the dye doesn't stick to say the bladder, bowels, etc... they are trying to keep it from absorbing into the soft tissues. it needs to go to the bones, so viola...we drink!  it takes 3 to 4 hours for the dye to absorb intot he bones.

well, what does it have over other films?  the advantage is it is done head to toe mostly, so you're not missing a beat; it provides a better "overall" picture too.  the dye, should there be any hyper-metabolic areas in the bones, will migrate to that area.  say if there is inflammation around your knees?...the dye will go there and will show up on the scan.  if there are places of bone cell reproduction going on...it'll go there too.

it's a pretty fast exam. mine was no more than 45 minutes if that. and the images are very groovy! flourescant & way cool. (well, i get psyched about technology).

but whatever hospital you go to, you can stay there! hang in the cafeteria or walk around rather than travel home. commuting does me in too.  

Posted 4/22/2006 12:55 AM (GMT 0)
missie1227
Erin had already described my experience for you. the worst part for me was waiting to have the scan after they gave me the injection. I was also in there about the same amount of time. I would like to address what they can find. I went in with my rhuemy suspecting that I had some arthritis even though I had already had another rhuemy tell me all I had was fibro and that my exrays showed nothing. she found arthritis and bone spurs all over. they can show things that other test don't. Hand in there and let us know how you do and what they find.

Mark
Posted 4/22/2006 4:34 AM (GMT 0)

thanks guys for the info. i am gonna do it.

 i just want to be sure there are no risks involved with all this dye stuff to hurt me. what happens if i have all this metal inside my neck and the bone scan cant show up the part  where the metal is

Posted 4/22/2006 5:04 AM (GMT 0)
the films will show the bone and structures around it. again, the metal doesn't have anything to do with it...the calcium chemical will uptake to bone only. sure you'll see the metal on film, but with any xray you will. it won't interfere with anything.
"i just want to be sure there are no risks involved..." there's risks in everything...heck, even when ya drink water! don't let risks become limiting to your benefit.
Posted 4/23/2006 3:26 AM (GMT 0)
I just had an indium 111 scan a couple of weeks ago. It really was a piece of cake. The worse part didn't have anything to do with the procedure at all, it was the waiting and leaving and coming back and being there back and forth all day (oh and being stuck in traffic on the way home). LOL... I'm just trying to say that you should be fine. Like Erin said, the scans are really cool!!! They let me take home a copy of my scans, not sure if they will let you but you may want to ask.
Take Care
Posted 4/23/2006 7:03 AM (GMT 0)
thanks- that was my main concern which was why i wanted to have this done near where i live, since they make you wait for 3 hours and drink lots of h2o, i want to be home, then go back and have it done. i didnt want to drive 40 miles one way then have to go home then go back for the scan with the way gas prices are, i would like to have this done closer to home thus avoiding the long drive!! i think i can have it done as an out patient at a near by local hospital. there is one 3-5 miles away from home.... i think that would make more sense this way!!

does this test show anmy potential cancers growing anyway if there were any there in the bone?

Posted 4/24/2006 4:16 AM (GMT 0)

I had one about 10 years ago and though nothing hurt or went wrong, I felt really rotten afterwards.  I crashed for the rest of the day and was better the next day.

Honestly, I think I didn't drink enough water and that probably caused it. So, get that water in you!

***

Posted 4/24/2006 4:31 AM (GMT 0)
thanks, how long does the radioactive dye stay in your system and  any thing i should or shouldnt take meds wise. my doctor doesnt tell me very much how to prep for this test beforehand
Posted 4/24/2006 4:47 AM (GMT 0)

honestly, I don't remember. I don't think that long. I don't think you have to change any meds either, but I'm not sure.  Like I said, I felt pretty rotten by the time I got home, but I recall thinking that I did not drink enough water to flush it out of my system. But I did feel fine the next day. We were also having some plumbing work done in our house, and had 60-plus holes in our walls at the time, it's possible the dust caused by all the drywall was making me feel worse.

It seems that we talked about bone scans in a post quite some time ago....it may or may not have info in it for you if you want to search the archives for it. You probably can find a lot of answers on the internet if you search also.

**

Posted 4/24/2006 11:39 PM (GMT 0)
the dye remains "active" so to speak for up to 48 hours. now, that doesn't mean that it's doing anything to you...you'll be fine. you will want to avoid pregnant woman for that time span, and i'm sure the radiographer will tell you this. there is not one medication i can think of that you MUST STOP in order to have this done. it's perfectly safe...better than a series of regular XRAYS.
it will show areas of inflammation or new bone growth. further investigations will be done in ANY films no matter what they are if a malignancy is suspected, so this is not a diagnostic factor for any cancer. this will only show the WHERE abouts of anything going on.
you'll be fine...it's fun! don't worry. the dayglow colors are wicked cool! LOL.
Posted 4/25/2006 3:23 AM (GMT 0)

thank you erin- i cant wait till i see how it looks on film!!

 

should prove to be intersesting!!

Posted 4/29/2006 4:47 PM (GMT 0)
missy, I just had a full body bone scan done on thursday. Like everyone else has replied to you it really was not bad. My biggest problem was lying still for the 45 minutes, because of all of the pain I have. and now waiting for the results over the week-end. Don't worry about it and I wish you the best, Kris44
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