ICON9 Trial - Scan day

 It seems like more than three weeks since the last post - must be the effect of a rainy few days away in Devon. And a splendid day out on a Thames barge from Maldon with the nuclear family - early birthday treat. I'm the one with the binoculars, and half a cream tea inside me - important comma there. Couldn't manage the other half due to a copious pub lunch of salmon  in mussel sauce, so wrapped it up in a napkin for 'ron. 


Coming to a modus vivendi with the olaparib, but unfortunately,  breakfast at 6:30am followed by the pills at 9am followed by a bike ride to UCLH doesn't seem to fit into it. If there were any green emoji in this thing's databanks I'd pluck one out and put it HERE.

Anyway I'm in the main UCLH building for this scan and there's been a change of protocol since my last one. It's no longer a litre of radio-opaque liquid to drink but a litre of plain water. Some pharmaceutical companies must have lost out there. Apparently, perhaps due to improvements in the machines, they now get enough contrast from water in the guts to distinguish them from other bits and bobs. I'm rather hoping this means that I won't get the unfortunate after-effects that have followed the last few scans. But not taking any chances! There'll still be the injected dye and as that could be the culprit,  I'll still take the lift home rather than trying to cycle. 

It's very quiet in the waiting room here.  I'm the only person waiting amongst 14 empty chairs and a drinks machine clicking and plunking away to itself. No, that's just changed with the entrance of a chap on a mobility scooter, who is also muttering to himself. And now he's gone - back to me and my penultimate cup of water. 

Publishing this late, but that means I can report a personal thumbs up on the water vs. radio-opaque drink question. Plenty of peeing but that was all. Felt mildly sick most of the day - may be the upset routine, maybe the injected radio-opaque dye - who knows. And found this in Nature: https://rdcu.be/clgns  

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