Saturday, February 16, 2008

PET scan

Now some of you may not ever have the privilege of having one of these tests. I understand that it is one of the most expensive ones out there. But I am just that special ;)

They injected 'tagged' glucose - tagged with a radioisotope to view how organs and especially tumors uptake the glucose. The machine is more like an MRI - a longer tube. Not good for claustrophobic patients. Anyway there were no obvious ill effects from the injection - I didn't feel anything. However my post care instructions were to stay away from small children for 8 hours afterwards, to prevent them from being exposed to radiation. That doesn't sound very healthy - right?

No results until next week (probably Wednesday). To tell you the truth, I wouldn't mind waiting a few weeks for the results. I am just not that anxious to know what they found.

I am out of town on business again next week. Its a great way to avoid calls from my doctors office... Then, on the 25th, I have an appointment with the specialist who performed my debulking surgery for ovarian cancer. He will hopefully be able to answer a lot of questions, and I'm also hoping that he will perform the surgery to remove this mass, cancer or not.

Oh for my business trip, my boss is letting me drive his hybrid Prius. I have had it for the past two days, and I LOVE it! It is much more roomy than you would think, and fast too. I've been getting nearly 45 mpg for highway driving, which is a huge improvement over the 20 mpg the PT cruiser gets. I highly recommend it for anyone wanting to purchase a car. I think my boss is wanting to replace some fleet vehicles with the hybrids - I hope I'm first on the list!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Natalie,
I don't know if you remember me but I am from your way way past. We were friends like when we were 11 or so to the best of my remembering. My name is Janie and our families went to church together in Lansing.We spent many a night at your house hanging out in your basement and I remember the time we thought it would be cool to touch tongues in front of everyone in church in about the 2nd row while your dad was preaching. ( He wasn't too happy about that lol) I could go on in my brains archives ( and I was actually having a bit of fun doing it)but the reason I wanted to write was because my mom has been keeping up with the news you post about yourself (via your dad's mistake a while back :-) and she was reading it to me the other day.


I am really sorry about how life has unfolded with this. You seem to be holding it together but I am sure it shakes the very core of you. ( I know it would me) My mom survived breast cancer when we were little but my father died of pancreatic cancer about 13 years back. No doubt about it - we are no match for that stuff.


I know that life seems unfair at times and many of us go through so much more than others, but I want to remind you that no matter what you are faced with or what you go through that God loves you and cares for you very much. And though I do believe He heals, I know the most important thing to Him is your heart. It is your heart that determines where you will spend eternity and how much heart pain you will go through before you get there.


I know this is to the point, but my heart really went out to you when i heard of your situation. My life has not turned out the way I planned either but I KNOW this one thing - that it is ONLY because of God that I have made it.

Love, Janie

koneill1976 said...

Sorry I haven't written, we have dial-up and it has not been working and when it does work it is so slow. Steve was able to come home for treatments, he is trying now to go back over since I am done with treatments.

I read your blogs and I have my fingers crossed for you. You are stronger than me. I will do chemo again, but I will be pissed. You are so strong and will deal with this second speed bump and move on. I will think of you this week and enjoy the Prius. They are nice cars.

Jamie said...

Hey Nat! I will keep you in my prayers as you await the results. I partly know what you are going through as we just waited for cat scan results for my mom. They found a new spot on her pubic bone, and are thinking they are going to also add radiation now too. I think about you often as I am dealing with my mom. It's weird because I don't even know you! I just wanted to let you know, you are in my thoughts. Thanks for all the encouraging words for my mom, I really appreciate it.

Jamie

Anonymous said...

Hi Nat - I'm sorry I haven't been responding to your recent posts, but I've been busy, and now since Sunday I've got the flu. Yes, I had a flu shot:) That PET scan test you went through.......my heart goes out to you, and you are in my thoughts & prayers. How nice that you're driving a Prius. I've often wondered how they are. Always good to hear when a vehicle is good on gas mileage. I believe you're out of town as I type this, and hope you have a good trip back.
Take care, God bless.
Gerry

nat said...

Wow! Janie - of course I remember you! Thank you for the kind and encouraging words.
I'm sure we could reminisce for hours! ;) Its hard to believe that I'm 40 already - it sure doesn't seem like that much time has passed.

Everyone else - thank you as well! No news yet, but I'll post when I know more.

Thanks for your continued concern and support. It means more to me than you could know.