Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share A Look Into Two Months of Medical Testing
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
A Look Into Two Months of Medical Testing
This week on Calling in Sick I’m pulling back the curtain on the last two months of medical testing — why I said yes to a clinical study, what the actual tests were like, and how I’m handling the weird emotional whiplash of “we did all that… and we still don’t have a perfect answer.”
I’m tired, I’m flaring, I had my first day of IVIG… and somehow we’re still laughing (because if we don’t laugh, we scream in a medical trailer getting injected with nuclear medicine 🙃).
We’re diving into:
✨ Why I joined a clinical study (and what it’s actually used for)
✨ The 5-test diagnostic gauntlet: prednisone taper, bloodwork, scopes, pill cam, MRAs/MRIs + a PET scan
✨ Insurance + scheduling lore from HELL
✨ Colonoscopy prep amnesia (it’s like childbirth… you forget on purpose)
✨ My polarizing take: Google Maps > Apple Maps (fight me)
✨ The pill cam panic + urgent care x2 in one week
✨ The mindset shift I didn’t see coming: career momentum, motherhood timeline, and accepting what I’m not ready for yet
xx,
Alex
💬 COMMENT: What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever had to do for medical testing?
TIMESTAMPS:
Intro:
00:00:00 Welcome back to Calling in Sick!
00:06:18 Alex’s Picks of the Week: Gap Body pajamas + bear slippers (kids section hack)
Meat & Potatoes: The Diagnostic Gauntlet
00:09:08 Setting the stage: why I did the study
00:09:34 Clinical study 101 (and why it matters for future patients)
00:11:44 The deeper reason: the childhood diagnosis question mark
00:14:21 Prednisone taper (DO NOT DO THIS AT HOME)
00:19:27 Colonoscopy/endoscopy scheduling chaos + prep misery
00:22:26 Bloodwork off meds (and why I wanted the comparison)
00:25:14 Pill cam explained
00:30:47 MRAs/MRIs explained
00:34:56 Rituxan win: the mid-infusion Benadryl trick
00:36:02 IVIG recall
00:36:43 PET scans explained
00:39:19 Biggest takeaways: prep worse than tests + results didn’t show much
00:42:38 What’s next: oral prednisone vs IV, CAR-T trial, methotrexate or…
Conclusion:
00:46:00 Why I feel “weirdly okay” right now (and what chronic illness teaches you)
00:49:24 Soft30 with Elastique
00:50:06 One Brain Cell Show: Age of Disclosure
00:52:34 Thank you for listening!
----------------------------------------------------------------
Stay connected and follow us on socials for more!
• Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/callinginsickpod/
• TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@callinginsickpod
• Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61558234607568
• Substack - https://substack.com/@callinginsickpod?
----------------------------------------------------------------
Powered by: Just Media House -- https://www.justmediahouse.com/
Produced by: Alexandra Wildeson — https://www.instagram.com/alexandrawildeson/
----------------------------------------------------------------
Alex’s Picks of the Week:
We’re talking “surviving medical chaos” essentials this week… aka comfort items and small joys.
✨Gap Body pajamas (port-friendly button down) — https://go.shopmy.us/p-35563702
✨Gap bear slippers — https://go.shopmy.us/p-35563870
✨Our MERCH is available still…. Get it while it lasts!!!! — https://calling-in-sick.myshopify.com/
—— Use code “ZOFRAN” for a special discount!!
----------------------------------------------------------------
🥄 RSVP: Cooking with Cooper LIVE on YouTube on 12/19
—https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cooking-with-coop-tickets-1976990439624?aff=oddtdtcreator
----------------------------------------------------------------
#callinginsickpodcast #callinginsick #chronicillness #autoimmune #spoonielife #spooniesupport #invisibleillness #healthjourney #ivig #rituxan #prednisone #vasculitis #lupuslife #endometriosis #chronicpain #fatigue #medicalgaslighting #spoonietribe #flareup #petscan #pillcam #colonoscopy #mri #mra #clinicalstudy #chronicillnesshumor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
View all episodes
By Just Media
4.9
4040 ratings
This week on Calling in Sick I’m pulling back the curtain on the last two months of medical testing — why I said yes to a clinical study, what the actual tests were like, and how I’m handling the weird emotional whiplash of “we did all that… and we still don’t have a perfect answer.”
I’m tired, I’m flaring, I had my first day of IVIG… and somehow we’re still laughing (because if we don’t laugh, we scream in a medical trailer getting injected with nuclear medicine 🙃).
We’re diving into:
✨ Why I joined a clinical study (and what it’s actually used for)
✨ The 5-test diagnostic gauntlet: prednisone taper, bloodwork, scopes, pill cam, MRAs/MRIs + a PET scan
✨ Insurance + scheduling lore from HELL
✨ Colonoscopy prep amnesia (it’s like childbirth… you forget on purpose)
✨ My polarizing take: Google Maps > Apple Maps (fight me)
✨ The pill cam panic + urgent care x2 in one week
✨ The mindset shift I didn’t see coming: career momentum, motherhood timeline, and accepting what I’m not ready for yet
xx,
Alex
💬 COMMENT: What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever had to do for medical testing?
TIMESTAMPS:
Intro:
00:00:00 Welcome back to Calling in Sick!
00:06:18 Alex’s Picks of the Week: Gap Body pajamas + bear slippers (kids section hack)
Meat & Potatoes: The Diagnostic Gauntlet
00:09:08 Setting the stage: why I did the study
00:09:34 Clinical study 101 (and why it matters for future patients)
00:11:44 The deeper reason: the childhood diagnosis question mark
00:14:21 Prednisone taper (DO NOT DO THIS AT HOME)
00:19:27 Colonoscopy/endoscopy scheduling chaos + prep misery
00:22:26 Bloodwork off meds (and why I wanted the comparison)
00:25:14 Pill cam explained
00:30:47 MRAs/MRIs explained
00:34:56 Rituxan win: the mid-infusion Benadryl trick
00:36:02 IVIG recall
00:36:43 PET scans explained
00:39:19 Biggest takeaways: prep worse than tests + results didn’t show much
00:42:38 What’s next: oral prednisone vs IV, CAR-T trial, methotrexate or…
Conclusion:
00:46:00 Why I feel “weirdly okay” right now (and what chronic illness teaches you)
00:49:24 Soft30 with Elastique
00:50:06 One Brain Cell Show: Age of Disclosure
00:52:34 Thank you for listening!
----------------------------------------------------------------
Stay connected and follow us on socials for more!
• Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/callinginsickpod/
• TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@callinginsickpod
• Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61558234607568
• Substack - https://substack.com/@callinginsickpod?
----------------------------------------------------------------
Powered by: Just Media House -- https://www.justmediahouse.com/
Produced by: Alexandra Wildeson — https://www.instagram.com/alexandrawildeson/
----------------------------------------------------------------
Alex’s Picks of the Week:
We’re talking “surviving medical chaos” essentials this week… aka comfort items and small joys.
✨Gap Body pajamas (port-friendly button down) — https://go.shopmy.us/p-35563702
✨Gap bear slippers — https://go.shopmy.us/p-35563870
✨Our MERCH is available still…. Get it while it lasts!!!! — https://calling-in-sick.myshopify.com/
—— Use code “ZOFRAN” for a special discount!!
----------------------------------------------------------------
🥄 RSVP: Cooking with Cooper LIVE on YouTube on 12/19
—https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cooking-with-coop-tickets-1976990439624?aff=oddtdtcreator
----------------------------------------------------------------
#callinginsickpodcast #callinginsick #chronicillness #autoimmune #spoonielife #spooniesupport #invisibleillness #healthjourney #ivig #rituxan #prednisone #vasculitis #lupuslife #endometriosis #chronicpain #fatigue #medicalgaslighting #spoonietribe #flareup #petscan #pillcam #colonoscopy #mri #mra #clinicalstudy #chronicillnesshumor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
More shows like Calling In Sick
View all
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
9,148 Listeners
Up First from NPR
56,599 Listeners
This Podcast Will Kill You
16,983 Listeners
You're Wrong About
21,911 Listeners
Call Her Daddy
165,083 Listeners
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
27,822 Listeners
Serialously with Annie Elise
10,531 Listeners
We Can Do Hard Things
41,363 Listeners
The Comment Section with Drew Afualo
1,955 Listeners
Handsome
13,636 Listeners
So True with Caleb Hearon
2,275 Listeners
Brooke and Connor Make A Podcast
3,716 Listeners
Blink | Jake Haendel's Story
7,315 Listeners
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
12,362 Listeners
House of Maher
569 Listeners