Do you remember in the early 90’s when “Take Your Daughter to Work Day” became a thing?
Today, you (and the kids) get to come with me to my PET scan and see what it’s all about! First, get to the hospital early and look for parking! (Create a parking spot in the grass on the hill.)
Rush to get to the Nuclear Medicine Clinic-then wait!
and wait…
The day prior to the scan: Prep instructions for PET scans. Basically, no carbs, no exercise, no alcohol, no nothing. In my house, we call that a “potato” day because we just sit around and do nothing.
The morning of the PET scan. Nothing but water. Drink it from a fun mug though!
Fill out all the paperwork!
Check blood sugar! They ask if you’ve been fasting and this will prove it. Numbers must be between 80-200 to proceed. Whew, I passed! (No food or caffeine after midnight!)
Next up! Radioactive dye injection. The radioactive sugar solution will migrate to the areas of “hyper-metabolic” activity (in other words, seeing something light up is bad!)
I’ve already been to the chemo room to get my port accessed! I’m Ready!
After the radioactive dye…more waiting…45 minutes for the dye to circulate throughout your system. (My 45 minutes turned into an hour.)
Finally!
The whole process takes about 3 hours. The actual scan only takes about 25 minutes! Then, off to lunch!
…and wait for results!
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