Another Day, Another Test

I guess that one of the great things about having two diseases fighting for attention in my body is that there's never a shortage of tests. The CLL gets the attention this week.

Yesterday I had a PET scan to see if all the leukemia cells are still out of my body. I'm confident that the results will look the same as the scan that was done last April. The PET scan is a fairly easy test to endure. I got to the imaging office a few minutes early for my 7:30am appointment.

After going through the routine process of getting my insurance cards scanned, I sat and waited for my time to be taken back into the exam room. Jackie took me back, got me situated, drew my blood, and placed the IV in my left arm. The blood draw went without a hitch, so once the IV was placed, I sat for a few minutes before I got the radioactive stuff shot in to the IV.

Armed with my book, I sat in the chair and waited the required two hours to let the radioactive material flow through me. While I waited, Heather, one of the nurses normally upstairs at the cancer center, came down to help out with the crew at the imaging center. It's always nice to see a friendly face.

When it was time for me to go into the X-ray room, Matt came to get me. It was time for the test. The PET scan machine looks a lot like the CT scan equipment. I"m not so sure it's not the same thing that is able to be used for both tests. My job with this test was pretty simple. Lay on the track, keep my arms over my head, and be still. Piece of cake.

The test took about 25 minutes, as I was transported through the scanner, out the other side, and then back through again. It's not a particularly noisy test, so I was able to listen to the radio that was playing in the room. Once the test was over, I got up and went back to the little exam room to wait for confirmation that the pictures all looked good, and then I was out the door.

Another day, another test. Friday, it's back in for another maintenance treatment.