Today’s event was an appointment at Bedford Hospital for a procedure called sentinel node location/imaging. I had to report to the Nuclear Medicine Department much to my husband’s amusement. It does sound a bit extreme.
My appointment letter stated that all MK patients are asked to attend at the same time so I needed to be prepared to wait. As it turned out there were only 3 of us so no waiting around after all. In fact, the most time consuming thing was travelling to Bedford and back in rush hour traffic.
When it was my turn to receive the radioactive injection, I was asked to sit on something not unlike a dentist’s chair. That was probably the scariest part of my visit. I was then given information about the radioactive dye and how it assists the identification of the sentinel lymph node which the surgeon will need to locate. The injection itself stung a bit but nothing too bad. I was then free to go home, having been told to stay clear from children under 16 and pregnant women due to the gamma rays which I would now be producing. Fortunately this will only last for 22 hours maximum.
That just left me to pack a bag ready for tomorrow’s operation. I will have my operation in the morning so no food allowed after 2.30am and no water after 6.30am. The thought of this has resulted in me eating and drinking all evening like I will never be alowed to eat and drink again! Crazy but true.
Now I would just like to get tomorrow over and done with so I can recover at home.
Sarah's breast cancer journey 