Nuclear Medicine Historical Poem

T’was the late 1960’s

And all through the South

Began a faint glimmer

Of “Isotopes” all about.

A fast growing technology

New advances almost every day

New procedures, new isotopes, new equipment

An intriguing challenge in every way.

Drawn to this new field

Were the bravest of brave;

Not afraid when their friends said:

“You gonna glow in your grave!”

Back in the dark ages

Of dear old 1969

When some of you hadn’t reached puberty

And some of you weren’t even alive.

There were but five “isotopes” techs

Listed by the A.R.R.T.

In South Carolina there was

Joyce, Jeanne, Frances, Jennifer and me.

We did all of our work

In the most up-to-date manner

With State-of-the-art equipment

Like the rectilinear scanner.

The isotopes were all standard

And easily kept straight:

Brain scans with Mercury 197

Liver scans with Gold-198.

Hepatobiliaries with

Rose Bengal tagged to I-131

Lung scans with I-131 MAA

Were the newest things under the sun.

And those 4 hour bone scans, Oh!

We thought Isotopes had come alive

When technetium polyphosphate

Replaced Strontium-85.

Now don’t feel sorry for the old-timers

We lived through it and we’re still around

(Though we haven’t had many kids among us

And our fingers are turning brown.)

We’ve seen our specialty grow and change

And take new avenues

Give new answers to old, old questions

And occasionally made the evening news.

But though we grew in number

We were loners, just the same

Until March of 1976

When SCSNM became our name.

Now we gather every year

Rotate our meetings city to city

If you’re not a member and miss all the fun,

Well, I really feel it’s a pity.

Some good times, some bad ones

Sometimes we just didn’t agree

About somebody else’s point of order

That we just couldn’t see.

But we always pulled it together

Wherever there was a need.

Thanks for all your joint efforts

And for keeping an old fart like me.

            ~Patty Slay 1986