Today I am going for a PET CT scan. This will be my fourth scan. So far I have had an MRI, a CT scan with contrast dye, and ultrasound, and now this PET CT scan. Oh and I’ve also had a dental x-ray. The dental x-ray went really well. I needed one because radiation can make your teeth and jaw very brittle so they take out any teeth they think won't withstand the radiation. I was dreading this part - I just couldn't imagine being my age and having all my teeth removed, leaving a set of gums and false teeth. Thankfully he’s really pleased with my teeth. He thought the dentistry in my mouth was excellent and said it was like looking at a fine jewellery shop. It probably cost as much as some fine jewellery to get it that way so that cheered me up - money well spent over the years I suppose! I am so relieved I won’t need to have any teeth out before I have radiation and chemotherapy, if that’s the route I go down.
The purpose of today’s PET CT scan is to try to ascertain whether
the enlarged lymph node in my neck is cancerous or not. What we know so far:
- This tumour is a HPV-positive squamous cell carcinoma
- I have a suspicious node in my neck
As I mentioned, tumours caused by HPV are highly treatable. This is obviously good news in spite of the negative news about having cancer to start with. We also know there is one enlarged lymph node in my neck. It is 9mm. This is bigger than a normal node but not as big as a cancerous lymph node. What they aren’t sure about is whether this is a cancerous lymph node in the making or just a swollen lymph node – what is known as a reactive node, because it’s next to the tumour. The PET CT scan usually happens a few months after treatment to check if the cancer has all gone or whether it might have returned. But it seems I am having one before treatment starts to see whether or not that node is cancerous. I am not even sure if it would really change the course of treatment if I’m honest but the doctor has recommended that I have one so off I go.
The scan is very similar to a CT scan except they inject
radioactive sugar into your blood one hour before the scan. Radioactive sugar
reacts with cancer cells and makes them glow on a scan so that the doctor can
see where the cancer spots in your body are. This all sounds pretty amazing to
me, although I am not looking forward to yet another scan, nor being
radioactive. I have images of Homer Simpson as Radioactive Man whizzing through
my head as I drive to the scan - by myself, because afterwards I will be
radioactive for about six hours and can’t go near people, especially small
children and pregnant women. Thankfully Rich and the girls are away so I don’t
have to worry about being radioactive near them, but sadly it does mean no hugging
the pets until after 6pm today.
I felt fine after the scan, but yet again there is more waiting. Everyone says this is the hardest part and they are right. Although that said I don’t know yet what is to come so it may well not be right! The waiting is agonising because you don’t know what the future holds, and a PET scan holds the key to whether you have cancer in other parts of your body. I was scanned from head to pelvis, so I will soon know if the cancer has spread to other parts of my body. The problem with this is that you convince yourself that your body is riddled with every cancer imaginable and that when the results come back it will be all bad news. Thankfully I only have to wait one day for the results, so instead I am trying to focus on the positives - that I’ve got an early tumour contained in one place that is treatable - and as I go to bed I thank my lucky stars for that.
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