Radioactive

Had my third PET scan today. My first one was just before my hysterectomy and my second was just before I started chemo. This one will hopefully confirm what the CA-125* numbers are showing: that the chemotherapy has worked and I am in remission. I still have one cycle of chemo to complete (that's three sessions) and, then, hopefully, that will be it. I'll find out the results of today's scan at my oncology appointment on Wednesday.

As far as medical tests and exams go, PET scans are middling-annoying. You have to eat a low-carbohydrate diet the day before and can't have anything the day of other than water. This is because of the tracer that they give you for the exam. They establish an IV (if you have a port they use that) and inject radioactive glucose. If your blood glucose is over 160, they can't do the test because the tracer won't show up correctly. Cancer cells suck up glucose at a faster rate than normal body cells do, so they light up on the screen when they scan you with the CT machine. You rest for an hour after the tracer is injected to give it a chance to be taken up by cells and then you get to lie still in the scanning machine for about half an hour. So, you're hungry and have to spend an hour and a half being completely still, which is why it's not a completely non-annoying test to have done. It certainly could be worse, though!

The first two times I had the test performed, I experienced some mild anxiety during the scanning. I'm not normally someone who has a problem with claustrophobia, but being in that long tube can (and does) get to anybody. This time I didn't have that problem. I was so deeply engrossed in my thoughts that the test itself went by fairly quickly. The worst part was that my hands got icy cold! If I ever have to have another, I'm going to take gloves to wear!

The tracer has a very short half-life, so it's completely broken down and expelled from the body within 24 hours. But, for the time being, I'm very very mildly radioactive. Not that you can tell. Disappointingly, it doesn't make your pee glow or anything cool like that. That would be awesome. They should totally add something to the tracer that makes your pee glow. It would make dealing with the annoying bits totally worth it.

*Marker in the blood that is indicative of ovarian cancer.