Story Time Sunday | "I had a HIDA scan!"

Story Time Sunday | "I had a HIDA scan!"

For this weeks Story Time Sunday I am going to talk about something I recently had done - a HIDA scan!

Most of you are probably thinking, “What the heck is that?” so I am going to use some information from mayoclinic.com to help explain it.

What is a HIDA scan?

“A hepatobiliary (HIDA) scan is an imaging procedure used to diagnose problems of the liver, gallbladder and bile ducts. For a HIDA scan, a radioactive tracer is injected into a vein in your arm. The tracer travels through your bloodstream to your liver, where the bile-producing cells take it up. The tracer then travels with the bile into your gallbladder and through your bile ducts to your small intestine. A nuclear medicine scanner (gamma camera) tracks the flow of the tracer from your liver into your gallbladder and small intestine and creates computer images.”

Why is it done?

A HIDA scan is mainly done to evaluate your gallbladder, to look at the bile-excreting function of your liver, and to track the flow of bile from your liver into your small intestine.

If you are wondering why I had one done, here’s a little back story:

So I was diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome right around my 15^th birthday. Fast forward to 3 years later, I had to have a colonoscopy done to make sure that it was nothing more serious, specifically to make sure I did not have colon cancer. At the time, they had told me that I would need to be evaluated to have a colonoscopy once every 5 years. December 2016 rolls around, which was the next 5 year mark. Honestly, I did not want to have another one done, for the majority of the last 5 years I had felt pretty good. I found ways to deal with it and I was able to manage it pretty well. When I came in for a consult, the woman I saw asked why I never had full testing’s done to make sure that it was nothing else. At the time I had only ever had a colonoscopy, blood work done to rule out celiac disease/gluten, and tried diet changes to rule out lactose intolerance. She agreed that she would like to try some other tests first and only do the colonoscopy as a last resort. First, I had a few different tests done through blood work and then a Small Bowel Follow Through. (I did write a Story Time Sunday for that if you haven’t read it yet.) Anyways, so everything came back normal. I went back to see her for a follow up and she mentioned that upon further examination in my case and current situation, she would like me to have two more things done. She mentioned that some of the symptoms I had and how they came and went could be associated with the gallbladder so she wanted me to rule that out as well. So this brings me to now, which is why I had an abdominal sonogram and this HIDA scan done.

My HIDA scan experience:

I had to fast after midnight the day before and like I mentioned I had an abdominal sonogram right before I went in for my HIDA scan. Honestly when I first got in this thing it reminded me of a seat in a spaceship, however my doctor quickly informed me that I would not be going into space haha! This picture is a real picture of me, and this is what it looked like. I had to lay inside this for about 2 hours or so, just like this. I wasn’t allowed to move around much and I couldn’t move my arms or my hands anywhere near my chest or stomach. The nuclear medical scanner stayed in that position, about an inch from my chest the entire time. Luckily, I am not too claustrophobic so for me it wasn’t too bad. Before you get in “the big tube” (I don’t know real term for it is) they inject a radioactive tracer into a vein in your arm. It feels so weird when they do this because it’s actually like a cold sensation.

There were only two parts about this that I didn’t like. I didn’t like was that it was pretty hard to hear anything while inside it unless someone was standing right next to you and that my view was basically just that big black hose. Oh, I lied I forgot about the IV so I guess there’s actually three. I hate having them in because for one I’m a baby with pain and for two it always freaks me out to bend it so I literally keep my arm straight the entire time.

Here’s the only real decently bad part about it. So towards the end of the scan, I had to get an intravenous injection of a drug called Kinevac which makes your gallbladder contract and empty. The doctor told me beforehand that it’s going to make my stomach feel similar to how it does when I eat something I shouldn’t and it gets upset. He said I might experience things like abdominal pain, back pain, chest pressure, gassiness, cramping, vomiting, or the need to urinate. Instantly I’m trying to mentally prepare myself for the worst while I’m lying there waiting. The good news he said was that the symptoms would only last 10 minutes and then they would go away. So he gives me this drug through my IV and literally instantly I just feel yucky. My back hurts, my stomach hurts, I get cramping, and I feel pressure and warmth in my chest. It wasn’t as bad as I was expecting it to be, but he definitely didn’t lie about how yucky it would make you feel.

Thankfully, my results all came back normal!

I want to know: Have you ever had one of these done? What was your experience like?

*Stay tuned for next weeks Story Time Sunday at 7:30 pm EST over at Facebook.com/RachelFaulFitness