Scans

We're back from Boston.  It just seems like a long day.  We left Worcester around 8:00 am and arrived on time at Dana Farber at 9:30 am.  My first task was to visit the blood drawing room.  I know all the staff there now and each greets me as they walk by.  Nice to have a friendly environment especially there.  Because I was having a PET Scan, I needed an IV (the nuclear material needed for the PET can damage a port) put in.  Since it was a month since my port was accessed, my friend had to flush both sides of the port.  I had a triple stick!  Though they are really good there.  My IV was in a vein no one has been able to successfully set a line in before.

I'm still nuclear (watch out small children and pregnant women) from the PET Scan. They put me in a lead lined room, opened a lead walled pass through and pulled out a fat syringe coated with (yes) lead.  Then they injected me with the stuff and had me spend an hour quietly. I listened to music on my iPhone and read the latest The New Yorker short story.  Brother Trucker had just finished the song "Bobby" when they came and got me.  It's 90 degrees outside, but in nuclear medicine it was about 65.  I laid down on the PET bench and was covered (thankfully) by a warm blankie.   Then, the scan started and I went in and out of this tube for a half hour or more.  Typical for me, I fell asleep during the scan.  They woke me and told me I was still and they got good images.

Next, I went to CT World for a Neck Scan.  I filled out their paperwork, saw a screener with long red highlights in her hair.   She asked me if I had a port or an IV.  I said both.  The IV was active so that's the way the contrast for the CT would be administered.  I went back to the waiting room, sat, and waited to be called.  Tim came out and called my name and brought me into one of the CT rooms.  Just like the PET machine, the CT scanner was new and state of the art (nice machines!)  I bet it could tell if I were lying!  Again I laid down on the bench.  They took a few "pictures" then let the contrast go through my IV.  My whole body felt warm which was helpful given the cold temperature in the CT room and yes, they also gave me a blankie.  A few more "pictures" and I was done.

Both these tests required fasting of at least 4-6 hours.  I was hungry and packing formula and my stomach tube apparatus.  I asked if there was a place I could feed myself - I thought I might gross someone out in the waiting room who'd never seen a tube feed.  Hey - it's just a tube that disappears in my belly and opens to the stomach.  They set me up in a nice holding room and I fed.  Then, we headed back to Worcester.

Now we wait until Wednesday morning when we get the results of the scans.  Dr. H. feels that I am cancer free but there is no guarantee.  He projects a 20% chance that I may need surgery for a maverick lymph node.  We're hoping I fall into the 80% cancer free range.  Say a prayer or the spiritual equivalent.  Thanks.

A side note: last Friday, Mom & Dad had lunch at The Wexford House, their usual Friday routine.  Dad fell on the steps after eating and broke & dislocated his arm.  Wexford is conveniently located across the street from UMass Medical Center (where Ann trained and) where Dad gets his medical care.  He was ferried to the E/R where they decided that surgery was risky given all of Dad's health factors.  The doctors were able to manually set/reset the arm.  Later on that night, Dad's blood pressure dropped and he needed a unit of blood.  He was bleeding internally in the arm, blood thinners complicating the situation.  He is stable and will be released soon (whatever soon is).  He may have to go to rehab though he prefers to go home.  We'll see.  So, we have this going on, too.  Never a dull moment in our family.

Thanks everyone for the support and comfort over the past week.  This can be stressful, especially the waiting, and the emails have really kept me focused and made me feel the energy carrying me.  It means a lot.

Love...

Richard