ICANcer

The dreaded PET Scan.
You don’t get to bring anyone back with you for obvious reasons so this time I asked if I could take pictures 🌠to show my family what’s going on in those couple of hours ⏳.

I get my own room with a door 🚪 that is about a foot thick. My radiation injection comes in this little tackle box looking thing that weighs at least 10 pounds. The injection 💉is surrounded by a metal sleeve. The radiation is then put into my port.
During the hour wait I get SUPER SIZED flushing, hot 🔥flashes, instant 🧠headache and nausea 🤮

These boughts of general yuckyness happen throughout the rest of the day. Lucky me.

After that exciting - said no one ever- 60 minutes, I then get scanned for ⏰ 45 minutes. Whatever 💡 ‘lights’ up can potentially be cancer.

I then get my ‘get out of 👮jail free note’ directed to any providers that come into contact with me to wear protective 🧤gear. I am literally radioactive. I have to avoid pregnant 🫄 women, as I could unintentionally harm the unborn baby. After 4 hours I no longer have to show my ‘hall pass’.

Then we wait… ⏲️⏲️⏲️⏲️

↪️ I don’t get a normal PetScan, I get a specialized one to identify 🔎my specific type of rare tumors.

Here is my clinical notes showing medical technical terms:

NUCLEAR MEDICINE DETECTNET SCAN-SKULL BASE TO THIGHS

HISTORY:Small bowel neuroendocrine tumor to assess response to therapy

EXAMINATION: 5.4 mCi Copper64 Dotatate was administered via chest port. Approximately 60 minutes later, PET imaging was then performed from skull base through the proximal thighs. Corresponding volumetric CT imaging was performed for the purposes of attenuation correction and tumor localization.

These results are compared to 🗓️previous Pet Scans looking for changes to see if my cancer is responding to treatment or has my cancer worsen⁉️

This is Eden, my hair dresser. She has been with me, during my hair loss, which is a side effect of my cancer injection.

Eden is kind with her words and never makes me feel bad, although I often have tears streaming down my face when we talk about it. I've always loved my hair, which is completely superficial when fighting cancer. I have to keep things in perspective.

Now when I brush it or run my fingers through it, there is quite a bit of hair coming out. My daughter even pointed out a balding spot at the front of my hairline. I have been luckier than most as it's failing out in multiple strands not in clumps.

This last haircut Eden and I spoke a for a few minutes about what's best overall to try and keep the hair I have. She made a great point! The less it's touched or 'physically bothered' the less likely it will come out!! I'm always putting my hair in a ponytail so we decided to go short. It's summer so hopefully the short do will keep me from reaching for a ponytail holder.

Thank you Eden for your love and support through this journey with me. I love ya lots 💓💓

Firefighter Cancer Support Group