I talked to my oncologist this week and he was definitely able to ease my mind a little more about the scans. He said that it's not abnormal for the PET to show some activity if we scanned too soon post-treatment. He'll definitely watch me closer, but we're not worrying!
Insurance usually pays for these scans every 3 months - no sooner. He is checking to see if they will pay to have one in 6 weeks, and if not, we'll do it in June. He doesn't see that it is an emergency, which is good.
I know these updates are few and far between. I see that as a good thing. Let's hope I have nothing to report until my visit in April. Thanks again for all of your prayers... love to you all.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Scans
Yesterday I had my first post-treatment scans. This time they combined the PET & CT scans together... quite a process. I got results today & they are positive but a bit confusing! My doctor is out of town (never get a scan over spring break) so one of his associates called this morning and explained everything in great detail. I didn't get the "all clear" that I had hoped for, but it isn't exactly bad news either. Here's what I know right now...
The CT scan shows structure and changes in structure. This scan was normal, no growing masses and no abnormalities - great news! When I have scans every three months from now on, this is the type of scan that I will have. We will scan head to toe since lymphoma can pop up anywhere. But, yesterday I also had the PET scan and that one was more difficult to interpret.
In my basic understanding, the PET scan shows molecular activity. Tumors tend to eat up sugar in your system, so they inject a radioactive sugar something-or-another into my vein and watch where it goes. If it concentrates in one certain area, this area "lights up" on the scan and that is an area of interest to them. During my first PET scan, the area in my leg lit up - showing the tumor that we knew was there. This time, that area still faintly lit up. Best case scenario would have been no signs of activity at all... but this activity could also be caused by inflammation from radiation. It seems to take the body quite a while to recover from radiation - and tissue that still shows inflammation will light up as well as tissue that still holds some residual lymphoma. Confusing, eh?
So... they will likely just repeat these scans in 3 months. If the area lights up a little less, great! We will blame everything on the radiation and move on. If the area lights up a little more, not so great... we might have residual lymphoma. BUT, the doc said that this is still highly treatable and highly curable. It might just take more time. I am VERY optimistic that it's all from radiation and all is well.
In all reality, I am going to need to get used to living scan to scan anyway so this is my new norm. Everyone will tell you not to do that, but come on... that's our reality! I am used to this kind of routine already and I'm pretty good at living normally in between scans or tests.
Thanks for ALL of your prayers and support. You all have lifted me & my family daily and you continue to do so. I'm going to enjoy this week of spring break and I hope you do the same. I'll post again next week after I know what my doctor plans to do with me! Love to you all...
The CT scan shows structure and changes in structure. This scan was normal, no growing masses and no abnormalities - great news! When I have scans every three months from now on, this is the type of scan that I will have. We will scan head to toe since lymphoma can pop up anywhere. But, yesterday I also had the PET scan and that one was more difficult to interpret.
In my basic understanding, the PET scan shows molecular activity. Tumors tend to eat up sugar in your system, so they inject a radioactive sugar something-or-another into my vein and watch where it goes. If it concentrates in one certain area, this area "lights up" on the scan and that is an area of interest to them. During my first PET scan, the area in my leg lit up - showing the tumor that we knew was there. This time, that area still faintly lit up. Best case scenario would have been no signs of activity at all... but this activity could also be caused by inflammation from radiation. It seems to take the body quite a while to recover from radiation - and tissue that still shows inflammation will light up as well as tissue that still holds some residual lymphoma. Confusing, eh?
So... they will likely just repeat these scans in 3 months. If the area lights up a little less, great! We will blame everything on the radiation and move on. If the area lights up a little more, not so great... we might have residual lymphoma. BUT, the doc said that this is still highly treatable and highly curable. It might just take more time. I am VERY optimistic that it's all from radiation and all is well.
In all reality, I am going to need to get used to living scan to scan anyway so this is my new norm. Everyone will tell you not to do that, but come on... that's our reality! I am used to this kind of routine already and I'm pretty good at living normally in between scans or tests.
Thanks for ALL of your prayers and support. You all have lifted me & my family daily and you continue to do so. I'm going to enjoy this week of spring break and I hope you do the same. I'll post again next week after I know what my doctor plans to do with me! Love to you all...
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