Thursday… t+47 and PET Scan 18!

As I reported yesterday, I rang St Thomas’s to see about my appointment – to discover that it had been scheduled for this afternoon! I had a long chat with Sally – one of the lovely radiologists on the PET unit – about the pain problem when I am lying down, and the thoughts were that I could have a strong pain killer, or if that didn’t work, I could have diazepam (Valium) which would also work, but leave me feeling woozy – but in either event, they recommended that I should be accompanied so they were free to use whatever method was appropriate.

So this morning, and feeling hungry (I was supposed to fast from 8am, but in practice it was from last night) we set off for London for the 2:15 appointment. Once again greeted like a long lost friend, and after chats with Margaret, the unit manager, I went into the prep room for the tracer injection and to discuss the pain relief. The option chosen was Oromorph – an oral morphine preparation, which was planned for about an hour before the scan. (The tracer needs to be given 90 minutes beforehand).

So time ticked by, and eventually I had 10mg of the Oromorph, but probably less than an hour beforehand, then into the scanner room to lie on the bench. The team were lovely and had arranged to reduce the scan times by concentrating on the bits of interest, but even so the scan was scheduled for 20 minutes. Alas, I had only been lying down for about 3 or 4 minutes when the deep, dull, throbbing ache started just below my left shoulder blade.

Again the team were wonderful, and came to talk to me to take my mind off it, put on some music, and gave me a countdown. They did offer to stop the scan for a break, but having started, it seemed a pity to stop the sequence, so with a bit of gritted teeth and some careful pressure relief, I got through the 20 minutes. My concern was that I might have wriggled too much and impaired the quality of the scan, but I was assured that technically it was good. I say technically, because there was no medical opinion given, although I did look at the scans and I thought I could see a couple of hotspots (not surprising) but then I am not an expert, so my interpretation isn’t worth much. All I could tell was that it didn’t look as if I was lighting up like a Christmas tree!

I did feel pretty weak on the way up – the result of the fasting, and my blood sugar was pretty low (4.7mmol/l – where the normal range is 4-8mmol/l) but I had a bite to eat on the way home and felt quite perky by the time we got back.

So a slightly out-of-the-ordinary scan, but the team were great (as usual) and put up with me being a wuss without complaint!

My next appointment is next Thursday when I should get the results – from a tutored and knowledgeable eye, so until then, Onwards and Upwards!

5 Responses to “Thursday… t+47 and PET Scan 18!”

  1. Richard on 14 Dec 2006 at 11:35 pm #

    Wuss? Wonderful, unassuming, selfless charismatic. Sorry it’s too late to think of an other word beginning with ‘s’

    let’s pray for good news for Christmas

  2. Liz on 15 Dec 2006 at 8:05 pm #

    What can I say? Just, well done for getting through it! I echo Richard’s prayer and hope you get some good news. You deserve it!

    Lots of love,
    Liz

  3. Gillian on 15 Dec 2006 at 8:44 pm #

    Sexy? Sensational? Superman!!!

    Really, Richard, I thought you’d be able to come up with something!!

    Wishing you all the best for christmas and bright things for the new year

    sprinkling of fairy dust, love and hugs

    Gillian

  4. Peter on 16 Dec 2006 at 10:57 am #

    Aw – shucks!!! You are all too kind!

  5. Richard on 16 Dec 2006 at 10:05 pm #

    Shucks I hadn’t thought of that…………do you have them with mushrooms and red wine?

    Not sure Gillian that I feel quite the same pheromone effect as you 🙂