PET scan

You'll all know from Mike's post that the PET scan was yesterday morning. He described our adventures in getting there because of the snow we had (see some pictures I took to the left).

I had to fast, so maybe I was a tad cranky without the fortifying OJ that is my norm. When we got there, I learned that once they make me radioactive, I have to sit in a room all by myself for an hour and am not allowed to read, talk, or otherwise amuse myself because "we want you to really relax". HA! I admit to complaining rather loudly about this. I mean, I was definitely not sleepy so sitting there staring at four walls for an hour was going to really drive me buggy. For some people, this is just not relaxing, right? What if you had ADHD? What then? Whose brain-child was this stupid test anyway? I guess you get the picture.

Fortunately, the nurse that checked me in was very nice and put up with my squawking (I did make a point of saying that I was not blaming her or anything). She finally said, in a friendly way, "Are we done complaining?" I said "No," and kept at it for another minute or two. Mike and the nurse both seemed to find this highly entertaining (although I might have embarrassed Mike a little for which I am sorry). I wound down eventually and the nurse asked me my medical history which I have not only filled out a million times already but also told people about ad nauseum. If you pull my finger, I will probably just trot it out without thinking about it!

Mike left at this point (and yes, he did eat an Egg McMuffin; don't even think otherwise!) and they took me back for the injection. The room I got to stay in was probably about 4 feet by 5 feet - just big enough for the recliner that I had to sit in. First, the nurse checked my blood-sugar because, as the technician later explained, this radioactive isotope attaches itself to glucose. The idea is (as far as I understand it) that cancer cells like sugar. So the isotope looks for sugar-gorging cancer cells, which make more cancer cells, and the PET scan looks for the resulting cell growth. I could have this completely wrong, but it sounded something like this. Or maybe I just heard "blah blah glucose blah blah cancer cells blah blah growth" and made this all up!

I warned the technician who gave me the injection that I was cranky (although at this point I was resigned to an hour of complete boredom to be followed by at least 25 minutes more in the scanner, so I was not really cranky). He was also very nice and completely and utterly patient. He couldn't find a vein in my "good" arm, though he tried once without success. At this point, I realized that after I have surgery on Friday, both my right and left sides will have compromised lymph systems. So I told him to go ahead and look for a vein in my right arm, which I have faithfully protected for 6 and a half years. The good part is that he found a usable vein right away. The bad part is I worry about the consequences of having allowed him to do it. The bottom line is, I guess I am hosed either way. Small potatoes, though, compared to what some people have to deal with every day.

Another good thing is that he did turn on a radio for me. Although my book and crossword puzzles sat forlornly in the corner, I at least got to listen to a morning radio show. Still, it wasn't all that interesting and after 45 minutes or so, I had to pee and started tapping on my legs for entertainment; secretly, I was thinking, "HA! This'll teach 'em!" I finally decided to ring my "doorbell" to ask them if I could hit the restroom. This actually coincided with my being released from my cell. Yeeha!

I was warned to bring a change of clothes with no metal fastenings, so out came the penguin jammy bottoms that I wore to the biopsy. I accepted a blanket this time because it was really cold in the scanning room. The great thing was that the blanket I got was fleece with little dogs all over it. What luck! For this one, I also had to stay as still as possible, although I had to have my arms over my head the whole time. The hardest part was actually trying not to shiver, because I was cold despite the blanket. I tried to zone out but a little panic about the upcoming surgery and what seems to me to be ominous silence on the bone scan started to brew and so I laid there saying to myself, "You're okay; you're all right; everything's going to be fine." I kept at this for a while and just when the ol' bladder was knocking at the door, the scanner stopped and I was DONE! Yay!

The technician then said I could change and that they have snacks and juice if I want some. Okay, NOW I feel bad for starting off cranky. I mean, how can you get more thoughtful than that? And they even have OJ! I drank that while we waited to see if the scans were okay and we could go (although they did say I had to avoid pregnant women and small children for 6-8 hours because I would emit radioactivity). Because I hadn't had breakfast yet, I super-humanly avoided the cookies and took some peanut butter crackers instead. I ended up eating them for lunch and actually thinking fondly of the PET scan staff, if not of the procedure itself.