Back in the Saddle

Funny how, in this case, that phrase, "back in the saddle," means exactly the opposite. Instead of getting to ride and hike today, I got to spend several hours in the SCCA clinic, celebrating my return to city life with a PET scan and a concurrent CT (results Thursday afternoon). It just feels like kind of an . . . indignity, I guess, to come back from 10 blessed days of freedom into a place of 24-hour white noise, static, light, and unavoidable social intervention, and then have to spend most of my first hours here at the clinic getting needles jabbed into my arm, and being pumped full of radioactive glucose (stay away, all you new and soon-to-be mothers I know) and "berry"-flavored barium ("berryum?"), all on an empty stomach.

I had stopped by the PCC last night when I got into town, before even coming home (I knew there was nothing breakfasty in the house and I was pretty sure I wouldn't have the energy to leave again once I got here). At home, there were several messages from the SCCA reminding me of my appointment today and asking me to call, because there were several preparation issues that they had to go over with me. Now, why not just LEAVE THAT INFORMATION ON THE VOICE MAIL when it becomes Friday afternoon, right before you leave for the day, and my appointment is Monday morning, and YOU HAVEN'T REACHED ME?

I, however, am responsible, so I stopped eating last night 12 hours before my appointment, just in case, and I called them this morning at 8:00am when they opened, to find out what the restrictions were. I tried to look up the test prep instructions last night on the SCCA website, and as far as I can see, it would be a clever place to post all that info, but there was nothing. Anyway, I found out that, unlike a pure CT where I am allowed to have black coffee and even food 3 hours before, I could have nothing but water. They were even leery of my prescriptions, so I just took the Keppra and figured I'd be fine for a day. I left my bellybutton ring in, even though there was some complaining about it last time, because it could distort the image. I pointed out that I have never once had any exam--MRI, CT, PET, EKG, EEG, or anything else I may be forgetting--with the bellybutton ring out, in 10 years, and so, wouldn't it be better for any potential distortion to have things be the same as always?

Anyway, I didn't actually get home to get my coffee (iced, because it's about 90 degrees here right now) until about 2:45pm. I had two (with only a minor meltdown when the milk spilled all over the counter because the dairy had filled the container too full), and then a huge, awesome bowl of fresh fruit (pear, cherries, and blueberries and raspberries that Marsh picked and gave me generous portions of last night), with whole-milk Greek yoghurt, honey, walnuts and cinnamon on it. I think I finished my first meal of the day around 4:00pm.

Fortunately, the dogs are still in recovery mode, and the fact that they have had virtually no attention from me at all today, after days and days of never being free of me, has not seemed to disturb them. They are both still sound asleep, apparently unaware that their usual city dining time came and went almost an hour ago.

Ian arrives at SeaTac at around 11pm tonight, so we'll all be together again soon.