Nuclear Medicine?

I was just curious about things. What! Nuclear Medicine? Why can't the hospitals and doctors just call it testing of bone mass or bone X-ray?

So, I was at the SGH Nuclear Medicine zone yesterday. As usual, I arrived very early. Not a single soul there. I have a habit of being early for my appointment. My endocrinologist sent me there for BMD, or bone mineral densitometry. This happened because I had a fractured left pinky toe a couple of months ago. It happened when I was undergoing my physiotherapy session. Furthermore, he also noticed that I have a record of sprains, which resulted in inflammation and swelling of my ankles, toes, and knees. He suspected that I have osteoporosis or deteriorated bone density. Moreover, because of my "high fall risk" status resulting from the side effects of my medications, he is concerned that the risk of me falling and breaking my spine or hips is very high. I would think that it is common to hear of old folks falling and breaking their hips. It happened to my mother before. 

As the crowd started to stream in, I noticed that the people coming for BMD are elderly with a maid or family member holding them. I probably appear to be the youngest and fittest of all. My endocrinologist and my liver team doctors seem to like to send me for all kinds of tests and scans. All these have taken up a lot of my available time and cost me a lot of money. But, are all these tests necessary? Yes and no.

Yes, because the doctors wanted to make sure that I can live on by constantly checking my condition and taking the necessary intervention. They have done it very well. In fact, they have brought me out of my deep slump. And I can see that my physical and mental capabilities have improved exponentially in the past 2 months.

No, because I am spending too much of my remaining time on all these tests. No, the intervention would mean medications. Medications bring with them side effects that lower my quality of life. No, because all these tests bring with them many disruptions and interruptions.

I find all these ironic. But my mind tells me that I should go along with my doctors. Because my target is to be able to start jogging by October 2025.