August 17th 2020 - The PET Scan

 This is the day of the PET scan in the University Hospital. It was my first visit to the hospital and I was astonished that the initial impression was like visiting a resort large hotel in Spain. The sun was shining and people were seemingly having a great time around a lake just outside the main entrance. Inside the main concourse was more reminiscent of an airport with shops and food and drink outlets. You certainly did not feel that this was a sombre place full of people suffering various ailments. Maybe that is the general idea.

The other thing was that you would never guess that we were in the clutches of a serious epidemic as there was little sign of masks and social distancing was at best sketchy.

Steve P had kindly offered to drive me to the hospital and, as we were a little early, we had time to have a cup of coffee before I strolled off into the lion’s den.

The Radiography department was very sparsely attended and after a few moments in the waiting room and I was escorted into the inner sanctum where the PET scanner was situated. Lee, the radiographer, was soon apologising for a delay to the scan. The radioactive tracer had not arrived from Nottingham yet due to traffic problems. They would do all they could to speed things up but the scan could be up to 90 minutes late. By now I was imprisoned in what felt like a cell which had a heavy metal door and no windows. There was a reclining chair though and I was invited to drink plenty of water. The nature of the cell meant that there was no communication with the outside world possible as there was no signal for phone or wifi. Lee kindly offered to let Steve P know of the delay.

Fortunately, I had brought something to read so it really wasn’t that bad. Lee came in and fitted the tap to a vein in my arm and then left me too it. I am glad to say that the radioactive tracer finally turned up at 15.45 which was only 45 minutes late. The precious fluid was released into my arm and was left to circulate around my body. Normally 120 minutes is allowed for this before the scan but Lee was happy to reduce the time to 90 minutes to speed things up. I was then left until 17.15 and asked to drink as much water as possible and given permission to visit the toilet nearby whenever necessary.

Those 90 minutes really dragged but eventually the door opened and I made the short walk to the scanner room via the toilet. The scanner is very similar to the MRI scanners that I have suffered before. This time I went in fully clothed and head first. I also had to keep my hands and arms over my head as I entered the quite narrow tunnel. The biggest difference between PET and MRI was that this scan was almost silent. It is certainly just as cramped and now and then you do feel a little claustrophobic. I guess the scan took around 30 minutes but you do lose track of time. All the water that I had drunk started to put pressure on my bladder for the last five minutes or so and I was mighty glad when the scan ended. A quick visit to the toilet to release some radioactive urine and I was on my way.

Like the MRI scan the PET scan is something that you have to endure. You know that it will provide useful information that will help the diagnosis and therefore you need to man up.

So that is it – all the tests are done. Wednesday is just around the corner and my telephone consultation with my oncologist Dr. Palaniappan. I have a feeling in my water (no pun intended) that there will be some bad news and I am steeling myself for it. I have a feeling that lymphoma may form part of the diagnosis. Of course, I hope not but my overall tiredness and occasional night sweats and itchiness do make me wonder.

Well I will know soon enough. All this waiting and wondering has been getting me down that is for sure.