The One After the PET Scan

I know you were all worried, but yes, I now have carbs back in my body.

Tuesday was the PET scan - the first of many, most likely. Before even getting to the hospital, I had to drink 3-4 glasses of water (which, on an empty stomach is not easy to do). Once we got there they hooked me up to the IV to check blood sugar and later to get the radioactive sugars into my blood.

They actually kept all the PET scan medicine out on a truck that travels around the area. Every time we wanted to get on or off of the truck we had to ride on a little crane, which took way longer than if they would have had a little folding staircase. They set me up in a reclining chair and used the IV to put in the medicine. Because it's radioactive it was encased in a large stainless steel cylinder.

The wait time really wasn't as awful as I thought it would be. I could listen to the lab techs' conversation, hear the music coming from the hospital, and curl up in the chair and dose for a while. Thankfully I heard the "she's got three more minutes" so the lab technician didn't have to wake me up.

It was the 25 minutes in the PET scanner that seemed to take the longest. The PET machine looks a lot like a CT scanner, but instead of just focusing on your head, you lay on a table that moves in and out of the tube to get a picture of your whole body. It sort of felt like going into a closed water slide - backwards and forwards :P. My nose started to itch 15 minutes in, and not one person truly knows pain or self-control as a person who knows if he or she moves a hair the whole process starts all over. I wanted to cry. The last ten minutes dragged on for years. After the table finally came back out of the machine, the nurse walked me back into the hospital to make sure the radiologist said the pictures looked good.

Unfortunately there was one area that didn't come out clear, so I had to empty my bladder again and go back in the machine. This time it only took about five minutes - they just needed to see my pelvis again. We went back home and the whole family went out to Culver's :) .



For the rest of this business, I'm going to start watching what I eat and try to stay lower on carbs and sugars. If you have any low-carb, low-sugar favorite recipes, send them my way!

Tomorrow I had more appointments scheduled than the original meeting with the oncologist. I'm now having more blood work done and another CT scan. This time I have to take a contrast (some kind of drink) beforehand. Has anyone ever had a contrast before? What's it like? After a little while of waiting, the meeting with the oncologist is at 12:30. There we'll learn about my specific kind of lymphoma and hopefully start getting ready for treatment.

PET scan results will be shared when I have them :)

Current symptoms, side effects, and complaints: Not a one!

Also, I really appreciate all the advice and knowledge that so many people have been giving me! It's going to mean so much to me to put them all into practice and make this as easy as possible.