PET Scan & Results – won the battle but the war continues

Sorry for the delay in getting these up and then the back to back posts.  I wanted to wait until I had results to post. I had to go through the agony of 2 weeks of worry, I didn’t want to put others through it.  So I had my PET scan on the morning of 5/1…

Got up bright and early for a 7:15 appointment.  Got right in.  PET scans are interesting.  They inject you with a radioactive material and then you sit in a quiet room for an hour with no moving (I call it nap time).  The material is then eaten by the cancer cells so they will show up in the scan.  If you move, your muscles will eat the radioactive material before the cancer.  They have you eat a low carb diet the day before to starve the cancer of sugars/food (this is the same reason I’m told exercise and low sugar diets are part of the fight against cancer – they deprive the cancer of food).  

So all went well – my blood sugar passed the test and they injected me with the material. I didn’t get any cool powers, just a power nap. They put in an IV then do the injection so they don’t miss a vein. I did bleed through the gauze they put on my arm onto my sweater (spoiler… I do get the stains out). 

Radioactive material and the box they keep it in!

But other than that, the scan went fine.  After quiet time you’re in the machine for 12 minutes.  Then, it’s waiting time for the results.  I was told Thursday I would get them.  You get a bit desperate for information in the wait.  The poor technician who did the PET; I was reading her face as I left trying to tell if she saw anything on the scan (maybe she said goodbye happily because the scan was good).  

So a nice surprise was my Medical Oncologist called me at 5pm that night. He knew exactly how to open the call… “I have good news.”  It almost brought tears to my eyes.  After a week of feeling like I did a year ago, thinking the cancer had spread, I was finally able to breath.  So the results of the PET:

• There was no other significant sign of cancer in the lymph nodes, bones etc. 
• The site of the biopsy had a little reaction, but he was wondering if was related to the biopsy healing
• There was a 3mm node in my lung.  My doctor feels this is just a side effect from the radiation and is consistent with radiation not cancer.  He said it’s unlikely (though not impossible) that the cancer would go to the lung without the lymph nodes, and the size etc of it indicates radiation not cancer.  We’re going to monitor it though (it should go away) in 3 months with a Chest CT scan. 

Overall he and my Surgical Oncologist said they are “happy” with the results, as am I.  I’m now hoping to schedule a surgery to remove more skin around the biopsy spot for 5/13. Me, being the high maintenance person, that I am, asked if I can fly that night – so they are following back up with me to schedule. She said she wants to do this removal in the hospital in a clean room as she doesn’t want to disturb the expanders etc, vs. just doing it in her office.  I’m hoping it’s easy and it’s not a killer scar. 

I will get back together with my Medical Oncologist 5/10 to discuss my treatment plan going forward.  He had me stop the Xeloda before the PET scan and said to hold off (clearly it’s not working as expected).  In the meantime he’s presenting my case to a medical panel to determine what the next steps are.  So we’ll see… In the back of my mind I worry I have to start all this over again from square one, but am optimistic this was just a small blip.  I’ve been told local recurrences are not uncommon. It also partially reconfirms in my mind that my lack of any side effects isn’t necessarily a good sign (though my doctors don’t share that feeling).  

I’m definitely celebrating winning this battle, but this experience was a reminder that the battle is far from over (insert Game of Thrones reference).  I want to thank everyone again for all the love and support.  Having everyone with me along the way is all I need to keep fighting the good fight .

On a side note, on Thursday 5/2 I had a dermatologist appointment and they decided to cut off a mole and biopsy it.  Wouldn’t that be ironic if I survive the breast cancer to be taken down by a mole.