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16th August 2010 15:56

Alan Yates wrote...

Susan,

Yes, Dad is doing great after his surgery, I suspect it has put years on his life.

I am NOT a doctor, but I do recall Dad saying he had a strange sensation in his fingers shortly after administration of the tracer. He described it as pressure and warmth, a bit like someone was squeezing his fingertips. He said it subsided before the first round of imaging was performed. I imagine some people react to the chemical in different ways, varying with their particular genetic make-up?

I know from my measurements that the radioactivity stays in the body for much more than just one nuclear half-life and is still detectable for several days. It does appear to have a biological clearance that frees the body of the majority of it quite quickly, mostly as urine, but a lot also stays around in the digestive system and tissues until it is no longer detectable by its gamma emissions.

How long it takes to be "completely" cleared I am unsure. I suspect that any noticeable effects are due to the chemical, not the radiological content of the tracer. The radiation is essentially identical to diagnostic X-rays, and apart from a quite feeble (and highly debated) ability for people to see strong x-ray fields there is no mechanism for conscience detection of electromagnetic radiation of that wavelength and at that low an intensity.

In summary, I'd say what you experienced is "real", and is probably an effect of the chemical part of the tracer, not its radioactivity.

Regards,

Alan

3rd August 2010 02:11

susan Stehman wrote...

Dear Alan,

I had a nuclear stress test friday am. But I could still feel

"heat" in the center of my chest and my thyroid friday evening. When I woke up on saturday, I could still feel the chest and throat and my left arm. Saturday evening I

could feel heat in my abdomen and my eyes felt hot.On

Sunday am I could feel it in my kidneys. I called the doctor

he said to take a benadryl which helped. I had been drinking

lots of water and eating blueberries and carrots to help with

loading up antioxidents. Do you think the radioactive agent could have stayed in my longer than the usual 6 hours? What causes the HOT feeling, if I am not supposed to be able to feel it?

I received 36.3 milicuries of myoview (sestamibi technescium.) 205 lbs 57 years old.

Thank you for your consideration of my question.

Hope your father is continuing to feel good.

Susan

15th March 2010 09:30

Alan Yates wrote...

Herb,

Thanks mate. Everything went much better than expected. He came through the surgery well, and is now back at home.

Myself I haven't been very productive of late. With Dad sick and starting a new job things have been pretty hectic. Been toying with a few things, but haven't got anything really worthy of writing up yet.

Regards,

Alan

15th March 2010 03:32

WR9H wrote...

Hello Alan,

I check your site regularly as it has great stuff!

I hope everything is cool with your dad....

73

Herb

14th February 2010 18:52

Alan Yates wrote...

Mark,

Yes, my Dad has been amazing in what is a very scary time for him (and us all). I'll pass on your best wishes - thank you very much.

Regards,

Alan

14th February 2010 18:36

Mark VandeWettering (K6HX) wrote...

Wow... this is without a doubt the geekiest thing I've ever read. Very few of us have enough geek chops to consider injection of radioactive tracers to be an opportunity for experimentation. Fascinating stuff. Oh, and your dad must be an extraordinary guy to put up with this stuff. :-)

Incidently, best wishes to him and any upcoming procedures he may be having.