A-Z April Challenge K is for "Stop Thief!"

Yesterday, I had to have an x-ray.  Generally, I am slightly uncomfortable in medical situations.
Anyone who knows me is laughing at that mildly understated description of my state when I have to go to the doctor, dentist, hospital, etc.
It is not an embellishment to say that I FA REEK out.

So back to the x-ray.  It wasn't just a plain ole x-ray.  The procedure I had done was called a Hida Scan with CCK Injection.

Here is the explanation of the test.

A hepatobiliary iminodiacetic acid scan, also known as a HIDA scan or cholescintigraphy -- is a test that examines the passage of bile from the liver to the small intestine, specifically focusing on the gallbladder, the small organ through which the bile flows. A physician may order a HIDA scan when gallstones, gallbladder inflammation or other problems with the bile ducts or gallbladder are 

suspected. A HIDA scan can include a CCK (cholecystokinin) injection, as well, to test the ejection fraction of bile from the gallbladder. The entire test can take anywhere from one to four hours. A HIDA scan begins with an injection of a radioactive tracer. This tracer helps to highlight the liver, bile ducts and gallbladder in the pictures taken by a gamma camera. The camera photographs the abdomen for 60-90 minutes, and then the injection of CCK is administered. This naturally occurring polypeptide stimulates the gallbladder to contract, squeezing out the bile. The rate at which the bile leaves the gallbladder is used to calculate the ejection fraction. The camera continues to take pictures as the CCK causes the gallbladder contractions.A HIDA scan may indicate that the biliary tract is functioning normally, or it may indicate problems. If the flow of the radioactive tracer is inhibited at any point, it may indicate gallstones, which are hardened cholesterol formations that can lodge themselves in the bile duct or fill up a gallbladder. "Sludge" is another possibility, occurring when thick cholesterol sediments form in the gallbladder. If the radioactive material never shows up in the gallbladder, the test may indicate that the gallbladder is inflamed.During a HIDA scan that includes a CCK injection, the ejection fraction should demonstrate whether or not the gallbladder is effectively moving bile. An ejection fraction is represented by a percentage on a scale of 0 through 100, with fractions less than 30 percent indicating compromised functionality of the gallbladder and the possible need for surgical removal.

Prep for the Test

Come on now I bet you'd be "slightly uncomfortable" too.

For the past week I have been looking forward to attending the "biggest and best auction around".  At least that's what I was told last weekend by an auctioneer friend of ours.  He told me I had to go.  He said it was unbelievable.   He also sad the magic words, "They have a whole room filled with jewelry."

Ross and I made plans to go.

I got the call on Tuesday morning from the surgeon's nurse that I needed to have this HIDA scan done.
She asked if Thursday would be okay.  The first thing I thought of was, "the biggest and best auction was Thursday."   I almost asked her to make it another day, but because of my slight inclination to FA REEK out with these things, I just wanted to get it over with.


I figured I could have the test done, and still get to the auction in time for the " whole room filled with jewelry" part.

One of the things I do to calm, distract, sooth, and comfort myself is knit.   Knitting has helped me cope through and basically survive so many difficult times.

My latest knitting project is called "The Wonderful Wallaby."  It is not an easy pattern to follow.  I have been working on it for months now.  I have had to rip it out many times and start over.
But, now I am almost finished.  I am proud of myself for sticking with it.

I carry my knitting with me where ever I go.  My knitting bag is an old vintage Vera Bradley, that coincidentally, I picked up at an auction.

Yesterday, as I started to say, way back at the top of this post, I had to have this x-ray done.  Afterwards we were going to go to the auction.

I packed up my necessities in my knitting bag.  In my bag were my old iPod(one of the original versions)  with an audio book to listen to while I had my 2 hour test done, my nearly done Wonderful Wallaby, to work on during the one hour car trip to the auction,  my iPad (also one of the original versions) to use for research while we were at the auction.
I also had a big old canvas bag to haul my winnings in and my purse, cause I never go anywhere without my purse.

The test was not as bad as I thought it was going to be.  Okay the drugs I took before I had the test probably helped.

Our auctioneer friend was right, the auction was the biggest and best I had ever been to.   It also is an all day and practically all night event.

I know the auction goes on into the night because, at 11:30 p.m., when we were getting ready to go to bed, and I went to get my iPad out of my knitting bag so that I could plug it into the charger and my heart sank when I couldn't find my Vera Bradley and I realized that I had left it at the auction hall and Ross called the auction and they were still there auctioning off stuff.

Shirley answered the phone.  As soon as Ross identified himself, she said, "Oh, you left a bag here."
As soon as I heard him say, "Oh, you have it?", I was relieved.  My first thought was "thank goodness they found my Wonderful Wallaby.

Of course Ross didn't ask about my knitting, he asked about the iPad.  (I had taken my iPod out of the bag during the X-ray, so it was in my purse.)

The iPad was gone.   So whoever turned in my bag, clearly wasn't a knitter.  I know this because if they would have discovered an almost completed Wonderful Wallaby, they surely would have had the get-a-way car running and absconded with it.

K is for Knitting...
PS:Thank you non-knitter thief for only taking my iPad and leaving my Wonderful Wallaby!

PPS: The photo of the Wonderful Wallaby is not my Wonderful Wallaby because mine is still in my vintage Vera Bradley Bag.

PPPS. The photo of the vintage Vera Bradley Bag is not my bag because it is still at the auction house waiting for us to pick it up.

And last but not least:

Happy Birthday, Ross.
I love you!