PET Scan

Today was a great day!!  Today for me was a pivotal one, as the PET Scan would tell us if and where the cancer has spread, and if so, to where.  Last night I wasn't allowed to eat any carbs or sugar, so I had chicken breast and cauliflower.  Also, I was supposed to fast before the test, and the appointment wasn't until 1:00.  Yikes!  Anyone who knows me knows I love my food.  But I tried to think about those who regularly don't eat for long periods of time because of different circumstances and because they don't have a choice.  I decided to suck it up and quit being such a baby. 

I went to work in the morning and headed over to the hospital in the afternoon.  I wasn't 100% sure of what to expect, but I read the directions and imagined I'd be sitting in a room watching TV.  I was right! 

I checked in and then a radiologist took me back and she explained what would happen.  She first had to find a vein of mine (a difficult feat on my body) and finally got it.  Then she injected small traces of radioactive material so that the machine could trace it.  It felt cold and slightly odd.  The radioactive material needed to take an hour to get through my system, so I sat in a large, reclining chair, and she gave me a warm blanket, a remote for the tv, and some water.  Not too shabby!!

 

Another perk was that I didn't have to wear one of those oversized pink gowns!  I just got to wear my regular clothes!  After an hour, they had me go to the bathroom and then I went to the room with the PET Scanner.  It was a slightly dimmed room, but the ceiling had a scene of a blue sky with trees as if you were laying on a field looking up.  I laid on a long, skinny bed, and the tech put a pillow under my knees and a blanket on top.  She also asked me to place my arms over my head.  The table went through a large tunnel.  She said I would go in and out twice, and then I'd go through slowly once, and it would all last about 20 minutes.  It went by pretty quickly!

 

Afterwards, she took me to a room and gave me some juice and Goldfish crackers and I was a happy camper.  I looked at my phone and discovered Eric and my dad had both come to meet me.  I told them I wanted to take a minute to talk to the social worker about how to best tell Julia.  I will do a separate post about Julia, but for now we're waiting until after Tuesday's meeting when we know the treatment plan.  I told Eric and my dad that I needed carbs and sugar since that's what I couldn't eat, so off we went to Noodles and Co. and Cold Stone!

 

 

Happy once again.

 

Afterwards I went to pick Julia up from school as I normally would.  I'm trying to keep her routine as normal as possible now.  It wasn't until I was in the car that I noticed I had a message from Jill, my nurse navigator.  I listened to it and she already had the results of the PET Scan, which were negative!!!!  PRAISE GOD!  This means that the cancer isn't active anywhere else in my body, and that it's localized in my breast.  That's HUGE!!!

 

I'm so happy and relieved to hear that news, and it makes me feel re-energized.  This isn't to say that I don't have a long road ahead still, but it makes me feel like it's manageable.  I honestly thought in my heart of hearts that it had spread to other parts of my body, so this news is so great to me.  I'm honestly kind of shocked, but I'll take it!  Little victories!  (Although this one feels pretty big.) 

 

Julia and I praying before bed.  We thanked God for good news.

Now, my goal is to enjoy the weekend!  Let's do this!