Breathing in the New Year.

Yes. I was able to catch my breath and calm down on New Year's Eve after my visit with Dr. B.
This New Year looked bright as we rang it in. No big party to attend or throw. Just a quiet evening....well not really quiet as fireworks are legal here and so it sounds a little like a war zone for hours on end.

So let's get this all cleared up.

The area's of interest was more of a alarming call from the nurse than it needed to be. The doctor said that she wanted to speak with me prior to meeting with my surgeon so that I could have my PET scan disk and the report in case he had not received it yet. She was glad that I was seeing him on Monday because the area's were more "clinical" than what she would deal with. Meaning that the areas of interest...two of them were directly in the areas of surgery. So up and around my stoma and down near the cuff. She said in her opinion it was one of two things. Inflammation of cells post surgery and/or fluid build up. The non surgical site that was noted as a concern was so slight that she felt from the review it was nothing. Apparently their is a node near my aorta that is showing some activity but it is so slight that it not a concern. I guess Dr. H and I will have a talk on Monday and figure out the game plan but for now I am relieved.

So how do they gage all of this. Well when I had the PET scan I was injected with radioactive glucose. The scan, an hour after being still for an hour, was easy. It was the being still that was hard. I am not one to do that. But I had a trusty white little pill that calmed me and I was just about asleep when they pulled me out of the "quiet" room to empty my bladder and then go in for the scan. You lay on this hard surface and they cover you up like they are tucking you into bed. They propped my legs up at the knees. They don't look past your thigh unless they spot melanoma and then they will look further. Apparently cancer of the toe is very rare.

So the scan takes about 35 minutes and I was so relaxed that I was more upset that they had moved me from the "quiet" room.

The scan picks up light and the amount of brightness from the light given off in your body on which the glucose has attached itself to area's of rapidly growing cells gives them an idea of what might be cancer. So the areas that "lit" up on me were 6.75 and 6.3 with a 2or 3 in the node on near my aorta. The doctor said that the brightness wasn't what they would consider "bright" but enough light to have to make note. She has seen brightness that measured at 20 or higher.

So that is very layman terms for how the scan works but as you can see the main thing they measure is the bright factor and mine was low. That is why she was not overly concerned and is interested more in what the "clinical" discussion will be. She mentioned that my doctor may come back and say "oh this is nothing, I see this all the time. It is just fluid or irritated tissue."

Let's hope so!

So friends, thank you for your support! Thank you for your prayers. I was very alarmed and scared. I feel much better now and hope that on Monday afternoon my NEW YEAR continues to be just that.

Happy New Year everyone! I wish you love, health and happiness.

ML