Taking The Piss

Well, that was an adventure. Began with getting naked and all alcohol-swabbed down by the doctor- 'well, that's a lot of metal'! Then a catheter inserted, through which they filled my bladder with dye. Was a weird sensation, familiar yet different as when I have been catheterised before it was a) on a pool table in front of a bunch of leather folk/at a play party and b) flowing the other way. When I was absolutely bursting my bits, they put a pan under me and asked me to pee while they took happy snaps. Unfortunately I got a weird cramp when I moved at just this moment, so was sitting there unable to piss for love or money for a couple of minutes. It hurt a lot, and still does ache a little. But when I finally did pee, I could watch it on the screen- which of course I found immensely exciting. And my jewellery shows up perfectly! After this a nurse came in and inserted a butterly canula into my arm, and I wriggled with glee as I watched it slide into the vein... Sigh... then she pushed a couple of vials of dye through, and waited. Sure enough, I got all of the anticipated/promised effects: a hot flush, a metallic taste in my mouth, and the oddest sensation of peeing when indeed I wasn't. Nurse found it amusing that I was grinning when this latter effect hit me 'yes, some patients love that bit', expressed appreciation for the cutting on my face and toddled off. The x-ray person took lots of snaps, moved me about, took some more, and at one point wrapped a big belt around my waist that inflated with a hand pump (just like a blood pressure cuff) so that the dye stayed in my kidneys a bit longer. It was rather similar to wearing a corset, tight and restricting but not unpleasant as such. All in all, despite the horrors of the preperation yesterday and the rather early start (had to be there 8am) it was quite a fun adventure... and the pictures are indeed pretty!