The Happy PET/CT

Usually, tests or scans are times of high anxiety for me, as they are for most--probably all--people living with cancer.

For days before a test or scan and then for the days afterward until I get the results, I am spacy, stressed, and scared.

But not this time. I went in for a combined PET/CT scan yesterday, and for the first time ever I was looking forward to it.

The reason?

I expect the results to confirm my low tumor markers (a CEA of 1.2, 1.7, and so on) of the past few months. Those CEA numbers are in the "normal" range, which means NO ACTIVE DISEASE. If the PET/CT confirms that, I will be in clinical remission for the first time in something like four years.

So this is a big deal. Of course, clinical remission doesn't mean I get to stop treatment. No such luck. If I did that, the cancer would be back, fast.

The nice folks at Via
I get my scans at an independent clinic in north Seattle called Via Radiology. My oncologist, Dr. Lee, is at Northwest Hospital, which has apparently decided not to invest in spendy PET/CT scanners, and he sends his patients to Via.

I talked to my technician about this, because I'm always interested in cancer care as a business, and she said that Via opened with the latest and greatest in scanning equipment (including an MRI machine large enough that I can get MRIs there--no claustrophobia) when most cancer centers in town didn't have the combined PET/CT.

Now, the Unversity of Washington has two, I believe, and SCCA (partly owned by UW) has one. Swedish cancer center has at least one.

So there's lots of scanning capacity on expensive machines chasing a somewhat limited number of cancer patients.

She said that Via has to compete by offering the best customer service, and I have to say that I have always had good experiences there. While at the University of Washington Medical Center, I was once left lying on a guerney in a cold, drafty hallway for the hour that you have to wait after taking a dose of Valium before the scan can begin.

I felt like a dead body lying there with people passing by.

One thing that had bugged me in the past was that each time I go in for a scan at Via, I'm given the same four or five pages of medical history forms and so on to fill out. Well, going though my medical history stresses me out, plus I know they already have this info., so I've started writing "see records" and "You have this information" on the forms and signing them.

But this technician, before she even saw my copies of the forms, had gone and checked my medical history, so the only things we needed to discuss were the changes since my last PET/CT in November.

Much less stressful.

Most cancer patients probably don't realize that they don't have to get their scans at the cancer center where they get treatment. Of course, that's usually the most convenient place to get them, but if, for example, you are claustrophobic and can't do conventional MRIs, you can go to a clinic that offers open-sided MRIs, or to a place with the newer machines, which are larger.

Oh, so the next big thing: combined PET and MRI machines. Watch for them at a cancer center near you.

After the scan
No need to describe the scans. The whole process took something like four hours, and when I was done, I was still loopy from the Valium, so I decided to walk home. I'd taken a cab there, since I knew about the Valium, and my car is still at the shop. The mechanic found yet another expensive, essential repair--I'm getting on this in the next day or two--I think I'm being scammed.

Anway, back to me. It was 5 p.m. and I hadn't had anything to eat since the night before, so I popped into a little doughnut shop and treated myself to a glazed old-fashioned for the walk home.

Yum. And I walked, in the rain, all the way from the corner of Meridian and Northgate Way to my home in Ravenna. I estimate the distance at five miles, at least. It took me an hour and a half, and I was pretty wet by the time I got home, but my head was clear and I felt so very alive.

Results on Thursday
I'll post something once I see Dr. Lee on Thursday.

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.

Comments

[Melanie Haiken]

Hi Jeanne, love your blog, and your attitude. I wanted to let you know that I linked to it in a round-up post today: http://www.caring.com/blogs/caring-currents/telling-our-stories-the-importance-of-personal-cancer-blogs
Thanks so much for sharing your story and helping others connect.
Take care,
Melanie Haiken

[Melanie Haiken]

Hi Jeanne, love your blog, and your attitude. I wanted to let you know that I linked to it in a round-up post today: http://www.caring.com/blogs/caring-currents/telling-our-stories-the-importance-of-personal-cancer-blogs
Thanks so much for sharing your story and helping others connect.
Take care,
Melanie Haiken

[john]

Jeanne my friend, i hope your scan comes back clean. Let us know pls.

John R.

[Carver]

Hi Jean, I'll be sending out good thoughts for your scan to bore the radiologist, as in no light ups. Best of luck, Carver

[Dee]

I'm keeping my fingers crossed, too!

It's interesting, when I had the PET/CT or even just the CT, I was never given valium!

[jessica]

sending good vibes, thoughts, mojo, and all that jazz your direction, jeanne!

and now i want a doughnut. how'd you know my favorite kind???

[jeanne]

Well, they are the best. Although sometimes I have to have one with frosting and sprinkles, because that reminds me of childhood.

We aren't big doughnut eaters in Seattle. I eat muffins or scones much more often.

[jeanne]

About the Valium and PET scans: I was told years ago that patients needed to take it because it helps them (us) to relax more and get a better scan.

Then more recently, Dr. Mannkoff at the UW, who has done a lot of research on PET and breast cancer, told me that they had found that, unless you were looking at the neck, it really wasn't necessary.

So I try to go without it, but Via is giving its patients Valium, and I just didn't argue. Don't like that loopy feeling afterward, though. Walking is the fastest way I know to get out of it. Plus food and coffee, because you have to fast before the PET, which also makes me loopy: low blood sugar.

[Tim (aka debu_Sweetie)]

Jeanne-

I am excited to hear how the results come out. I know that we will definitely have something to celebrate when we come out your way a week from Saturday! You sure you are going to be able to handle the houseful with Zoe and both my girls? Looking forward to it!!

By the way, if you get a chance check out my MySpace blog entry at http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=213876640&blogID=377395002 It's not as high tech as yours or Deb's but it's the thought that counts, hopefully. See you soon!

[jeanne]

Tim--I just read what you posted to MySpace, and I am very impressed by your honesty, and by your willingness to enter into this new world and to learn from those of us who are living in it.

Can't say how much I appreciate that attitude--many, many people would never consider getting involved with someone who has a cancer history. They can't see past the cancer--and what it might mean for THEM--to the great person who just happens to have had this disease. That great person, would of course, be Debs, the Dubutaunt!

I will support TeamZoe, of course. And no worries about bringing all the girls to my house--it's a kid-friendly house, and I have kittens to entertain them don't forget!

Jeanne