![\"\"](\"http:\/\/michelledevon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/a-to-z-letters-q-300x300.jpg\")
I know, you\u2019re confused as to why the letter Q on the A-Z challenge is for ventilation-perfusion, right? Well, I was sort of confused when I learned the name of the medical test that the ventilation-perfusion was called by the docs as a V\/Q scan. I get that the V is for ventilation, but what\u2019s the Q for? Why isn\u2019t it a V\/P scan? I\u2019m sure I could look it up, but I\u2019m too lazy right now.<\/p>\n
This test is an interesting test. It\u2019s part of nuclear medicine. When I got to take this test, which I\u2019ve had done twice now and I need done one more time at least, I have to go to the hospital and into a concrete basementy area. In this place, they have radiation detector badges, rings, and machines that check things. If they take trash out, they have to scan the trash with their machine and make sure it doesn\u2019t beep, or they can\u2019t take it out. If their badge or ring turns black, they aren\u2019t allowed to work in that area any more for a specific period of time, because their exposure was too high.<\/span><\/p>\n That\u2019ll unnerve you when you realize they are putting this stuff into my body! I even get a sticker after the exam saying I\u2019m radioactive and could test positive for up to three days after the test. This is, in part, for airport security, so that if they stop someone who has traveled for medical treatment, they can get through the gates to get home.<\/p>\n So here\u2019s how it works, they put an IV in to start, no problem. Then they check the IV to make sure it works. Then the first part is a breathing test. I wear a mask that seals completely around my nose and mouth. It makes breathing very difficult. You have to consciously think about taking in a big deep breath, or you\u2019ll start breathing shallowly and feel like you\u2019re hyperventilating. Then, they will tell me to breathe out completely as deeply and fully as I can breathe out, and then I have to breathe in for 30 full seconds, or for absolutely as long as I can, and while I\u2019m breathing in, they are pumping a gas into the breathing mask that goes into my lungs. Then I breathe normally for about two minutes through the mask.<\/p>\n Then they put me in front of this machine, and I\u2019m sitting up on a table, with the machine behind me, and behind that machine plate is another machine that puts out gamma radiation\u2013you know, the kind that made The Incredible Hulk. Unfortunately, I don\u2019t turn green. But don\u2019t make me angry. You wouldn\u2019t like me when I\u2019m angry.<\/p>\n Then they scan my chest, from the back, from the front, and from each side.<\/p>\n The second part of the test is when they give me a radioactive isotope injection of some sort. The injection is in a metal box. The syringe has a metal box around it to protect the healthcare worker. They wear special gloves when they give it to me. If they spill it or drip it, it\u2019s a bad thing. I have to lay down when they put this in the IV. They have to do it via IV, because if they miss the vein, bad things can happen. It is a little scary that a substance that they have to be so careful with is being injected into my body\u2013but, you do what ya gotta do, right?<\/p>\n Then they repeat the scan. One of these tests is the ventilation test; one of them is the perfusion test.<\/p>\n The scans tell the docs whether the blood clots that are in my lungs have gotten any bigger or smaller, if new ones have developed, or if I still have striations and scars from the past blood clots. This test will confirm the diagnosis of CTEPH. They do the test every two years when I\u2019m stable. There is a very slim, very, very slim chance, that one of these times they will do it, I will not have a \u2018mismatch\u2019. Mismatch is what confirms the CTEPH diagnosis. As long as I have a mismatch, then the pulmonary hypertension I\u2019m experiencing is caused by CTEPH. If the mismatch is gone, then it is pulmonary hypertension from another cause. Given that CTEPH is typically terminal, and PAH, while chronic and debilitating, usually isn\u2019t terminal (though it can cause heart failure that is terminal\u2013but then, so does CTEPH) my hope is always that they\u2019ll find some evidence that I don\u2019t have CTEPH and instead of PH\/PAH instead.<\/p>\n So I\u2019m scheduled for another V\/Q scan in June or July\u2013I forget which and I\u2019m too lazy to look it up. I can\u2019t help but hope a little bit that on this scan there won\u2019t be a mismatch. Fingers cross, good thoughts, prayers, all that jazz\u2026 if it\u2019s still a mismatch, nothing changes, but sure would be nice if the CTEPH just miraculously disappeared!<\/p>\n Anyway, this is a really cool test, though it\u2019s a little scary too. I find nuclear medicine fascinating. If nothing else, I have been radioactive for a few days of my life now! Cool, huh?<\/p>\n Love and stuff,<\/p>\n Michy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I know, you\u2019re confused as to why the letter Q on the A-Z challenge is for ventilation-perfusion, right? Well, I was sort of confused when I learned the name of the medical test that the ventilation-perfusion was called by the docs as a V\/Q scan. I get that the V is for ventilation, but what\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health"],"yoast_head":"\n