Some Overdue Good News

Usually I'm scheduled for a PET/CT scan every 3 months. The scan checks to see if there's any "hypermetabolic activity" in my body. Because cancer cells reproduce quickly they metabolize sugars quickly. Prior to being scanned I'm given an injection of radioactive sugar and then left to brew for about an hour. The scanner picks up areas where the sugar is being absorbed and metabolized quickly, and so with this test "hypermetabolic activity" means cancer.

Three months is a good span of time between scans because it allows enough time for changes to occur (cancer doesn't grow to detectable levels overnight) but doesn't allow so much time that the cancer could get out of control. It's a waiting period that I feel comfortable with...but my last scan was at the end of February.

With my recent hospitalization, followed by physical therapy, we put my scan off for two months longer than usual. Not that I forgot about it. I probably asked my doctor once a week since mid-May when we'd be doing the scan. He explained (reasonably) that I was *so* sick for those two extra months, even if I'd had a scan showing cancer we wouldn't be able to put my body through any sort of treatment.

Yesterday I finally had my scan.

Special parking for $1,000+ procedures

It was the same test I've been through countless times. I was worried. I always worry, but at this point my further treatment options are limited so a bad scan would be devastating news. And I've been taking immuno-suppressants which reduce my immune system's ability to do anything, including fight off any new cancer.

When the doctor came into my room today and reported the scan showed no disease I didn't even react immediately. There were so many reasons to worry the cancer might be back, I hadn't planned for such great news. According to the official interpretation of the scan there's "No evidence of hypermetabolic adenopathy in the neck, chest, abdomen, or pelvis." No cancer!