I survived my 1st week!
I began my new job as a PET/CT technologist at a local out-patient clinic in Austin. They have 15 locations throughout the Austin area; 6 sites have nuclear medicine and only 1 site has a fixed PET/CT (meaning that it stays on site at all times). I still can't believe that I got this job especially considering the few PET opportunities out there and the rather skimpy nuclear medicine market in Austin. Day #1 was really hectic...a lot of information at once...memory overload. Day #2 was even worse because I was expected to remember everything from Day #1 plus there was tons more to learn. On top of this, they're swamped. I thought that I did a lot of patients at GT. We averaged around 6-7 patients a day at GT. Here, they average around 11...almost 2X the patient load. However, their facility is absolutely textbook. The set-up is really ideal.
For all of you that are familiar with a PET facility, you'd appreciate a brief description. When the patient arrives, a paramedic starts the IV and checks the patient's blood sugar in a designated IV set-up room. They begin drinking the barium there and change into scrubs, gowns, robes, what have you? While the paramedic is injecting the IV, the PET tech (there's 3 of us)takes a detailed medical hx. Then, they're moved into 1 of 3 uptake rooms. Here, the PET tech injects the FDG and the patient relaxes in either a recliner or stretcher. Oh...the uptake rooms have a space heater to prevent brown fat and PET has its own separate hot lab. And wait...there's a bathroom right next to the uptake rooms...actually 2 bathrooms (one for staff/one for patients)...very convenient. The scan room is huge with lots of room for storage. Not only that, each uptake room and the scanning room has its own window (Now that's luxury!). So, although the patient load is high, the set-up helps to keep the workflow smooth. There's hardly a moment when the scanner is idle. It's a well oiled machine!
I would have to admit, I really dreaded Day #3 but it turned out to be the turning point for me. Everything started coming together and by day 4 and 5, I was scanning (pushing IV iodine contrast...nuc med techs can do that in TX!) and injecting independently. But I have to admit that I've never been so happy to see the weekend (except when I was teaching of course)!
The weekend was pretty uneventful. …a lot of relaxing poolside. Eric and I got annual pool passes for the low price of $25 each. In Kensington, MD Eric and I looked into getting a pool pass but the initial sign up fee was around $280 and then the season pass was an additional fee...Ric Diculus (SNL skit)! I had to question the lifeguard, thinking that he must have misunderstood me. Nope...only 25 bucks. We also have a selection from 3 neighboring pools, one of which stays open year round (and it's outdoor and kept above 65* all year round). That sounds a little chilly for my taste. We also went biking on the trails again. The evidence of the local creek flooding was apparent and the water reservoir was also bursting at its seams. Somehow we're always blessed to live by a large network of hike/bike trails. It must be fate. We've used them 3 or 4 times already! We also went to a local bar and listened to some really good live music from local singer/songwriters. Eric and I really enjoyed it. Hopefully, he'll have a lot of opportunities to start "playing out" here in Austin especially considering it's the "Live Music Capitol of the World".
The weekend went way too quickly and here it is Monday. I think that the US has it all wrong. We should work 4 days and have three days off like Europe. Maybe we'll move there next year! Well, I gotta go eat. I'm going to leave you with a photograph from my portfolio. I was going to post the whole kit and caboodle at once but since I won't have much time for photography since I'm working full-time again, its better that I trickle in a few at a time. For those of you that didn't know, I had my 1st photography exhibit at Georgetown Hospital during the month of May. It was a huge success. I displayed 25 photographs and sold 10. I almost broke even. Now I have around 15 to jump-start my next showing! This photograph is one of my favorites. I took it during our Oct. 2006 trip to Colorado. I titled it "A Rocky Pose" but its real name is "Balanced Rock". It's one of many red rock formations in The Garden of the Gods, located in Colorado Springs, CO.
"A Rocky Pose"
For all of you that are familiar with a PET facility, you'd appreciate a brief description. When the patient arrives, a paramedic starts the IV and checks the patient's blood sugar in a designated IV set-up room. They begin drinking the barium there and change into scrubs, gowns, robes, what have you? While the paramedic is injecting the IV, the PET tech (there's 3 of us)takes a detailed medical hx. Then, they're moved into 1 of 3 uptake rooms. Here, the PET tech injects the FDG and the patient relaxes in either a recliner or stretcher. Oh...the uptake rooms have a space heater to prevent brown fat and PET has its own separate hot lab. And wait...there's a bathroom right next to the uptake rooms...actually 2 bathrooms (one for staff/one for patients)...very convenient. The scan room is huge with lots of room for storage. Not only that, each uptake room and the scanning room has its own window (Now that's luxury!). So, although the patient load is high, the set-up helps to keep the workflow smooth. There's hardly a moment when the scanner is idle. It's a well oiled machine!
I would have to admit, I really dreaded Day #3 but it turned out to be the turning point for me. Everything started coming together and by day 4 and 5, I was scanning (pushing IV iodine contrast...nuc med techs can do that in TX!) and injecting independently. But I have to admit that I've never been so happy to see the weekend (except when I was teaching of course)!
The weekend was pretty uneventful. …a lot of relaxing poolside. Eric and I got annual pool passes for the low price of $25 each. In Kensington, MD Eric and I looked into getting a pool pass but the initial sign up fee was around $280 and then the season pass was an additional fee...Ric Diculus (SNL skit)! I had to question the lifeguard, thinking that he must have misunderstood me. Nope...only 25 bucks. We also have a selection from 3 neighboring pools, one of which stays open year round (and it's outdoor and kept above 65* all year round). That sounds a little chilly for my taste. We also went biking on the trails again. The evidence of the local creek flooding was apparent and the water reservoir was also bursting at its seams. Somehow we're always blessed to live by a large network of hike/bike trails. It must be fate. We've used them 3 or 4 times already! We also went to a local bar and listened to some really good live music from local singer/songwriters. Eric and I really enjoyed it. Hopefully, he'll have a lot of opportunities to start "playing out" here in Austin especially considering it's the "Live Music Capitol of the World".
The weekend went way too quickly and here it is Monday. I think that the US has it all wrong. We should work 4 days and have three days off like Europe. Maybe we'll move there next year! Well, I gotta go eat. I'm going to leave you with a photograph from my portfolio. I was going to post the whole kit and caboodle at once but since I won't have much time for photography since I'm working full-time again, its better that I trickle in a few at a time. For those of you that didn't know, I had my 1st photography exhibit at Georgetown Hospital during the month of May. It was a huge success. I displayed 25 photographs and sold 10. I almost broke even. Now I have around 15 to jump-start my next showing! This photograph is one of my favorites. I took it during our Oct. 2006 trip to Colorado. I titled it "A Rocky Pose" but its real name is "Balanced Rock". It's one of many red rock formations in The Garden of the Gods, located in Colorado Springs, CO.
"A Rocky Pose"
posted by Erica L. Christopher at
5:42 PM
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