The Scans

I had scans yesterday. Scans mean a CT scan and a bone scan. I get them every 3 months. This is the true tale of the tape…it shows if the disease has grown or shrunk. Much more accurate than the PSA. It’s sorta scary…I read an article about it once called “Scanxiety”

The procedure is this: You go in at 7 A.M….fill out the same 3 page form as always and wait to be called by the nuclear medicine nurse, he/she starts a vein and pumps your ass full..of radioactive…stuff!
It then takes about 3 hours to “contaminate” your bones so they can read the scan.

So you then go directly to the CT room. Here you have to drink about a half of a gallon of..….other stuff. This is so the CT can read the soft tissue. The other stuff doesn’t taste as bad as it used to…..it’s just that it’s lot to drink in such a short period of time…..especially on an empty stomach! Now if it was beer!!!.......You have to wait an hour for that to work…so back to the waiting room to watch CNN or read Parenthood Magazine. Then I go in and they pump more stuff through the intravenous port from the morning….the scan is over in just a few minutes…..and then……I can eat something!!!! I hope.

I return an hour or so later for the bone scan. The male nurse didn’t seem old enough to have a driver’s license but did seem to know what he was doing. The scan lasts 35-40 minutes and is a good time for a cat nap. Today they had to scan one area 2 more times….the nurse talks on the phone to a radiologist in another room (reminded me of the Wizard of Oz). A bit disconcerting but Hey! Maybe he couldn’t believe how much it had shrunk!

I asked the nurse if I would glow in the dark tonight? He looked up from his toy truck and said “Well you may brighten the room a bit”

I’ll know the results Tuesday, treatment day #20.


I’ll never stop saying this….Thank you for your Prayers, Spiritual Energy, Love and Support, stay tuned. B.