How Far the Cancer Has Spread

I had the PET CT Scan this morning. As Ruth suggested, the PET could've stood for Pretty Easy Test. It was much easier than the MRI.

First I met Pat, the nurse, who did a good job of explaining what would happen and what she needed from me. She stuck me and attached a gadget to control the flow, and started an IV; the water coming in would tell her whether the flow from my arm was good. She took some of the blood in the tube after the IV was established to test my blood glucose level. She said that, if it was 200 or over, we would say goodbye right then and there. Fortunately, it was 128.

Then she brought out the radioactive isotope (glucose), and put that into the IV tube. The only thing I had felt so far was the prick of the needle to start the IV. Then she left me for an hour, covering me with a heated blanket. "Don't talk on the phone," she told me, "but you can play games on your phone, anything like that." She then chatted with me about how she had gotten hooked on Angry Birds. During this long period of time left alone, I could've taken a nap, but she came back before I realized the time had gone by, and moved me to another room. I was urged to clear my bladder before I went in.

In the other room with the big, long MRI tube taking up most of it, I was told to partially undress (bra off, top still on, pants off, socks on) and slip into a gown. I then lay on the narrow plank, with my head on the pillow. She then placed a foam rubber pillow over my forehead, to keep it in place, I would guess.

"Your job," instructed Pat, "is to stay perfectly still. Don't hold your breath; breathe normally. This will take 21 minutes." This seemed easy enough until she placed my arms above my head, a most awkward way to relax.

And so I lay there as the machine moved me back and forth through one end and out the other, and back again. I noticed the whirring mechanism at one end, and so I assumed it was the business end.

This is the machine, the test, which will tell the doctors how much the cancer has spread. Whether it's reached the lymph nodes or not. Pretty important test. The insurance paper said the order was for "Pet Image with CT, Skull - Thigh." That's a pretty long scan.

20 minutes went by fairly quickly. I got out with her help, got dressed, saw the receptionist who offered me cookies. I don't turn down cookies, even for breakfast. Come to think of it, the radioactive isotope was breakfast. Helluva way to treat a diabetic, either way.