MIBI/nuclear perfusion test (sometime in April?)

Just back from the second day of MIBI (myocardial perfusion imaging)  (no, I don't know where the "B" comes from, either)  (OK, now I do: MIBI scans, an acronym for methoxyisobutyl isonitrile)/nuclear perfusion test/nuclear stress test at Nanaimo Hospital.  And, having to forgo coffee, for the best part of three days, while you have to get up at 3 AM to make the lo-o-o-o-o-ong drive to Nanaimo?  Who thought that up?  The "stress" part is usually walking/running on a treadmill.  I've never had a problem with that.  The MIBI stresses you by giving you a vasodilator, which opens/widens your arteries.  This does all *KINDS* of weird things to your body, including stomach upset, nausea, headache, and an overall weird feeling.  You can feel the capillary beds opening in your arms and face (and then closing again, when they give you a vasoconstrictor at the end, when calms down the stomach upset, etc).  You can't have caffeine from 24 hours *before* the test starts until it is almost over on the second day of the test.  Caffeine is a vasoconstrictor, and interferes with the dilator.  (They also tell you to have coffee after the chemo-"stress" part of the test is over, as it helps you calm down and recover.  Weird.)  If anyone offers you a MIBI test, JUST SAY NO!  (Well, obviously, if you need it, but ...)

I really couldn't figure it out.  After the (radioactive) injection on the first day, I had 10-15 minutes in a GE Infinia Hawkeye (4, as far as I can tell) scanner.  (As far as I could tell from the stopping and starting, it was taking individual shots.)  On Thursday, the only thing they were recording while I actually *had* the vasodilator was a 12-lead heart monitor.  (Oh, joy.  They shaved my chest again, and it'll be fun having it grow out again. Although they used less gel than last time, so my rash isn't as bad.)  Then, *after* they gave me the vasoconstrictor, it was back for another session in the scanner.  So, had the radioactive stuff (gallium?) "perfused" into my tissues, and was still there?  (*Is* still there?)  (Since China is being a pill about gallium these days, anybody who thinks they can extract it is welcome to try.)  And why take the comparison scan *after* the vasodilation was over?  (Not that I'm complaining: that stuff makes you feel really weird.)