Entries tagged as ‘MRI’
A week ago I went for additional scans: a full body CT scan as well as an MRI of my head. The good news is the head/brain MRI came back entirely clear!!! Unfortunately, the CT scan showed not only recurrance of some of the previous tumor sites, but additional growth and metastasis.
So we have wasted no time getting the ball rolling on the start of a new treatment plan. Last Wednesday, my sister Melissa flew up to Boise and we packed up what I would need for an extended trip to L.A. (including my two kitties Lefty Lucy, and Scioscia) and we quickly headed south in my car.
Before we could leave Boise, however, my wonderful cohort friends came over for an evening of hilarity and laughter. I was really glad to see them because I so wanted them to know that regardless of this year’s challenges, it has still been the best year of my life. To which they quickly informed me that I needed to get out more! Ever the smart asses…
Mel and I took several days to drive, stopping to spend the night in Provo and Las Vegas. Ironically, a friend of mine (Dr. Popcorn Chicken) was at a medical conference in Vegas at the time, so Mel and I got to spend an evening of hijinx with him. He wanted tattoos…. I was strong enough to decline!
I’m back at Mom’s house now and we’ve already had our first dose of In N Out burger. We have an appointment with Dr. H at the John Wayne Cancer Institute tomorrow at 11am. I’m eager to hear what he has to say…
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: Boise, brain, cancer, CT scan, in n out burger, John Wayne Cancer Institute, Las Vegas, melanoma, metastasis, MRI, Provo, scioscia, tattoos
Yesterday was the big testing day. No food, no caffeine, no sugar. Just water. I got to the hospital and was told the PET scan was going to be first on the docket. Much to the hospital’s credit I waited all of about 3 or 4 minutes. The PET tech came to get me. He reminded me of (do whatever you wish with this description) a surfer from Arkansas. Totally laid back with lots of twang. We started on the walk to the machine, we must have covered 70% of the hospital’s campus then outside, downstairs, into another elevator to a portable trailer near the breast cancer imaging center. It was quite the hike.
He leads me into a small room with two reclining chairs. He explains that he’s going to inject something and then we have to wait for it to be absorbed before they can complete the test. “Ok.” I thought. I sat back and he started tying off my left arm. He inserted a port that had two (maybe three, I can’t be sure) docks for needles. One needle went in and then the fun started. He reached for this stainless steel canister that was frosted on the outside and huge! Marty McFly eat your heart out, I think I just found part of the flux capacitor! I have kicked myself repeatedly for not getting a picture of this thing. Surfer Dude from Arkansas then gave me the best testing instructions I have ever received: “Lay back and take a nap…I’ll be back in 45 minutes”. RIGHT ON!!! I can do that!
As promised SDA returned and for the next hour and a half I alternately stuck my head and feet into this machine that had a big donut hole opening. It wasn’t too bad at all. I think I even slept most of the time.
PET scanner with Surfer Dude from Arkansas
On to the blood work, this got interesting. There was some confusion about the port being left in my arm. No one was entirely sure whether or not it was supposed to be there. The phlebotomist even looked at me at one point and asked, “Can I get blood OUT of that?”. I immediately offered my other arm to her and told her just to use the other one. At one point, I looked at the friend who was with me and said, “Yeah, that warm fuzzy feeling you’re supposed to get…I don’t have it”. As it turns out SDA left the port in for the MRI gang to use later in the day.
We finished up with the blood work around 3:30pm and the MRI was scheduled for 3:45pm. Just enough time for me to INHALE a sandwich and some M&M’s. The nurse came out and explained that I needed to change into scrubs for the MRI. I so totally looked like Sexy Smurf. The MRI itself kind of sucked. I had to lay down on this table, she taped my head down (even after I tried to argue that I had been able to stay completely still for the PET scan), then put this football helmet thing over my entire head. It was obnoxiously loud even with ear plugs. Luckily, there was a mirror attached to the football helmet so I was able to see not only the window, but also a clock so I had a pretty good idea of when it was going to be done.
We should have results tomorrow or Friday at the latest. One bummer note, today Mom’s plane was delayed at JFK for over 4 hours. She was pretty miserable because they were actually on the runway the entire time. This meant she missed her connecting flight and won’t get here until tomorrow. Fortunately I was able to switch my appointment with Dr. B. tomorrow.
‘Til next time…..
Categories: cyst
Tagged: Arkansas, blood test, cyst, flux capacitor, JFK, Marty McFly, MRI, PET scan, phlebotomist, smurf, surfer, tumor
Lots of doctors appointments set up for this coming week !!
Monday – meet the Head and Neck surgeon. I’m not too sure what this will entail. He doesn’t have a ton of information to go on. I would think he would need to have the imaging results in order to make some determinations. The nurse said this was primarily going to be a “meet and greet” with the doc. The only thing that is kinda freaking me out about this is the guy was supposed to be on vacation this week and now he’s coming in to meet with me. That seems odd. Especially without test results. We’ll see.
Tuesday- tests, test, and more tests. I’ve got to be there in the afternoon and have to deprive myself of sugar and the sacred elixir called caffeine for 6 hours prior to going. No caffeine for six hours???? The only time I ever do that is when I’m sleeping. UGH. Blood work, MRI’s, and PET scans is what they’ve told me have been ordered. Here’s a pretty cool link explaining what PET scans are http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=PET&bhcp=1
Wednesday- so far looks like a day off. Mom flys in around 10pm after flying all day. It sucks for her, she’ll be on a business trip and there are no direct flights in Boise from NYC so that means she has to fly from JFK to LAX and then come up here. Yuck.
Thursday- return to the dermatologist, Dr. B., removal of current stitches both in my head and on my face. Probably not a lot of information will be exchanged between myself and him, but I’m sure Mom will have a boatload of questions. I’m curious to see if she notices the similarities between him and my doctor in San Diego. It’s really eerie.
Friday- first appointment with the oncologist. This will be the big day. Most, if not all, of the tests should have results and hopefully, we will be able to find out the extent of this thing.
On a lighter note, the youtube page http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1FamHrhSwM now has over 1,200 hits from people looking at my scalp!!!
Categories: cyst
Tagged: blood test, Boise, caffeine, cancer, dermatologist, doctor, head and neck surgeon, JFK, LAX, mom, MRI, oncologist, PET scan, results, tumor
