So the urologist’s nurse finally gave me a date to bring Cass to see Dr Susan. We waited for more than 3 months since the MRU procedure on 18 May 2020 to get this appointment with me calling the nurse every week. And if it wasn’t because Cass got a UTI attack two weeks ago, the nurse wouldn’t have given me a date so soon.  I don’t blame her as this is a government hospital with a long list of patients waiting to see Dr Susan, the head of Urology Dept of HKL. She could get me an appointment to see just any junior urologist but I only want Dr Susan to manage Cass’ complicated issue.  I can see that priority is given to dire needs patients, i.e. those with cancer or other pressing issues.
As usual, we had to ‘camp’ at HKL for almost the entire day just waiting, from 10 a.m. through 3-ish p.m.. Cass is now scheduled to undergo two diagnostic tests before Dr Susan can decide on the next course of action: a cystoscopy (bladder scope) scheduled in November 2020 and a MAG3 scan in December 2020. Cass will have to be sedated under GA for the cystoscopy.
A renal MAG3 (Mercaptuacetyltriglycine) scan is a diagnostic nuclear medicine test that allows the doctor to see Cass’ kidneys and learn more about how they are functioning. A radiopharmaceutical called Technetium-99m MAG3 will be injected into one of Cass’ veins. Technetium-99m MAG3 has a tiny amount of radioactive molecules in it. A special camera, called a gamma camera, is used to take pictures of the kidneys once the radiopharmaceutical has been injected. During the briefing by the radiologist, I was told that after the MAG3 procedure, it’s best to avoid touching Cass as the radioactive materials can be transferred to anyone touching her. She will need to drink loads of water to flush out the radioactive materials.
This is the creepy old building that houses the radiotherapy and oncology unit at HKL. We had to wait for almost an hour to get a date for the MAG3 scan and for a briefing by the radiologist.
From the specialist clinics building, Cass and I had to walk for about 10 minutes under the drizzle to this building and stopped twice to ask the patrolling police officers for directions. HKL is a very huge place with many buildings for different units. Patients and staff often have to walk from one building to another. We walked past the A&E of HKL, the creepy place that still gives me nightmares 😱.  If only this congenital issue is covered by our insurer, I’ll choose a private hospital, any time.
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