As most of you are aware, we use a PET (positron emission topography) scan to see the progress I am making in my treatment. The scan shows big black spots where my brain, kidneys, bladder, and cancer are. These scans are long, and the process starts with a radioactive sugar being injected via IV. This what makes everything look black on the scan. Anything in my body that is currently eating up that sugar is picked up during the scan. Then we wait. We wait 45 minutes (and I can watch 45 minutes of one of the kids movies they have available) until the sugar is doing what it needs to do, and the scanner is available. The scan itself is approximately 30 minutes, 5 for the CT portion, and 25 for the PET. That usually means nap time for me, so it seems to go by quickly.
What doesn't go by quickly is the time between the scan and the result of the scan.
I have had at least 8 PET scans, including one last week. Each time we have gotten results, it hasn't quite been what we wanted to hear. It has always been "good, but..." until this last scan. This time its just getting better! But when we were in a rut of bad news, we just dreaded the time we had to spend waiting to hear the doctors say "this isn't the result we want".
It's great to know that what we're doing now isn't making me incredibly sick, and I'm kind of on the mend! Finally we have been told that it's getting better, and there's no need to rush into the next treatment. We don't even have our next PET scan scheduled when in most cases we do. I'm sure it will be in approximately 3 months. I'll keep you posted.
P.S. after my PET scan I am considered radioactive. Its actually recommended I don't go near young children or pregnant women, and I need a letter to travel into the US 24 hours after the scan. Apparently I would light up their bomb detectors.
Also, even though I am radioactive, I don't get super powers. I've tried. The only thing super was the disappointment that I couldn't fly or shoot lasers out of my eyes. Maybe next time. Or, maybe eventually I'll just glow in the dark.
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