two starbucks straws.

Last Wednesday was my umpteenth-millionth ct scan. Throughout this five and a half year long journey (so far), I think the only thing left to scan is my toes. And by the looks of those, they probably should. ;)

If you have never had the ummm, privilege of having a ct scan, well…let me save you a bit of misery.

Pick up 2 Starbucks straws. McDonalds straws work as well, but I like the green color of the Starbucks straws and their ability to hide stuff. The key here though is to find BIG, HUGE straws.

The first time I had a ct scan, was right after my diagnosis and I wasn’t all there. Shell-shocked would probably be the best description. I asked what the barium tasted like and I was told, a thin berry smoothie. So, I attempted to just drink it straight from a cup. Riiiighht….

Puke. It took everything I had to choke the stuff down and several episodes of dry-heaving.

The next time, upon the recommendation of some friends, I tried it ice cold and out of a wine glass to attempt to make it go down easier. Ummm….nope.

Fast forward several more times of doing everything I could to get it down, even with the help of anti-nausea meds they started prescribing me. Finally someone suggested ice cold with HUGE straws to bypass the front of the tongue. And you know what?

It worked! I still have a bit of trouble come time for the second bottle, simply because my stomach is full, but it isn’t near as miserable as it was and I don’t need meds anymore.

Too bad I can’t handle banana and mocha flavors in real life, because I am told those flavors are actually decent. All this science out there and they can’t make meds taste good. And don’t even get me started on Golytely….