louise
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Post by louise on Jul 30, 2007 18:51:31 GMT -5
Tazz my prayr ar with you too .Louise
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texastazz
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Post by texastazz on Jul 30, 2007 23:09:15 GMT -5
Thanks everyone and GOOD LUCK Tweety
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Post by Crims on Aug 1, 2007 23:28:04 GMT -5
Please keep us in the loop Tazz and you too Tweety. #hug#
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texastazz
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Post by texastazz on Aug 4, 2007 10:13:18 GMT -5
Thanks for asking and the prayers.
Everything came out good, the mass was inflamation or granulomatous [not sure what that means] in nature. Also there is a 10mm ill-defined nodular density in the left lung apex. which has minimal FDG [not sure what that is] activity within it, follow up monitoring with repeat CT scan of the chest in 3 months is recommended to monitor this nodule for any significant change.
I was so tired from not much sleep and stress I didn't come and post last night. I guess the doctors have to tell you why the tests are being ordered but I sure wish he didn't have to tell me this time.
Thr PET CT scan is interesting to see but I hope no one has to go through one.
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thenexttweety
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Post by thenexttweety on Aug 5, 2007 1:11:54 GMT -5
C-T (CAT or CT) scans, MRI and PET scans are all used to provide information about possible tumors and metastasis (spread) of cancer.
MRI scans use magnets rather than X-rays to produce the image. The strength of the magnetic field causes the atoms of the body to respond, and the emissions are detected by the scanner, which are analyzed, and an image is produced. The person to be tested lies on a table, which slides into the opening of a narrow cylinder. Loud noises are heard during the scan, which lasts approximately 30 minutes, and people who have a difficult time in close places sometimes have a hard time coping with an MRI. I certainly did, and had to be medicated with valium before a second attempt after failing to handle the first one.
I had my MRI 10 years ago following a simpler scan which had revealed a uterinary cyst that was monitored annually from then on with a series of CT scans. In each case for the next five years I was told no growth had been indicated. However the cyst was removed as part of a hysterectomy for preventive reasons in December 2002 prior to chemotherapy to treat the breast cancer which had been diagnosed several months earlier prior to a double mastectomy.
With a CAT (CT or C-T), often before the test a contrast medium is given, either as a drink or through a vein or port. When it's time, the person being tested lies down on a special table while the scanner is rotated around them. This usually takes around 15-20 minutes, although it can be shorter or longer depending upon how much of the body is being scanned.
With a PET scan the person to be scanned lies on a table, which moves through a ring-shaped scanner. After a few minutes, a radioisotope called a tracer is inhaled or injected into a vein. (This substance will clear from the body rapidly as it has a short "half-life".) The scan then continues with the tracer active. The entire procedure can take anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours, depending upon the size of the body part being scanned.
A newer type of scan combines the technologies of CT and PET. Superimposing the images of function on structure seems to give the best of both worlds -- the anatomical detail of the CT and the ability to find small clumps of cancer cells of the PET. Many hospitals have plans to add them in the coming months. Much of the detail above came from info I found online copyrighted in 2001.
From what I could tell from my experience last Wednesday, I think I must have had this combo CT/PET. This was the first time I had to consume a liter of contrast medium after arriving at the Image Center in the two and a half hours between then and time for the scan, a measured glass of several ounces within each half hour. Also within that period I had an IV tube attached for later use as a port for the tracer described above. All of the scans, including the last one after the IV tube was used, took only a few minutes, since I understand it was only my liver that was to be scanned.
Nothing about this whole procedure merited the dread with which I faced it. And since more than 48 hours have passed since it happened I feel relieved not to have heard about any results requiring my being given them prior to a follow-on appointment again next Wednesday. I am so glad you have the same sensation of relief about your own experience, Tazz!
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texastazz
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Post by texastazz on Aug 5, 2007 11:07:55 GMT -5
The first CT I had they gave me the "lemonaide" to drink, a gallon and a 1/2, not sure what the mixture was but I had to drink it in an hour and 1/2 before the test then an iv was attached during the test...this was to check for gallstones. No gallstones but a nodule on my left lung was found, which was just a scar. That machine was like a big donut, not inclosed at all.
The PET CT I was give an injection and waited an hour before testing. The CT was nothing to eat 4 hours before, but the PET was nothing but water after 12 midnight except lots of water. After they give the injection you have to remaim still and silent for that hour then they take you to another room with the machine which is a long tube with the donut over it. You go into the tube slowly all the way out the back then it stops and then you start moving VERY slowly back through and at times you are inside, more like a MRI, then out the other end. Its not noisey like a MRI tho. The injection stuff was in a metal thing like oxygen comes in, i'm thinking he said radioactive and to drink lots of water to get out of your system. I was scanned from the base of my skull to my thighs [maybe any place with lymph glands] PTL it is over and not that much wrong.
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thenexttweety
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Post by thenexttweety on Aug 6, 2007 3:11:07 GMT -5
Geez, Tazz, I really appreciate the detail you added to my descriptions, too! My initial CT scan, the MRI, and following scans and ultrasounds were all at the VA Med Cen in Long Beach, California. But most of my diagnostic work since was either at the VA Med Cen in Columbia, Missouri or at various adjuncts of the University of Missouri Med service centers there and here at the Lake of the Ozarks. All of my chemo and cancer treatment was at Ellis Fishell, the University's primary cancer treatment center.
I'd forgotten two HYDAscans back in 2000 or early 2001 to verify enough restriction from existing sludge or whatever to justify the tech's recommendation for laparoscopic cholecystectomy (when my gall bladder was removed). I guess I do remember something maybe similar to that type of scan you described, including lots of fluid first, an IV, and monitoring over a longer period of time, but it was all quite different from anything I'd experienced before with unfamiliar equipment.
I don't think I had ever had to drink any type of cocktail prior to any of the other many ultrasounds and scans I've had -- including one specific one I remember to assess bone weight on all my major bones after my chemo was complete. The kind of machine I've been in most frequently were the doughnut-shaped ones you wrote of, including this last one, quiet in operation, and quite different from the machinery you described.
The only time I remember being urged to drink extra fluids was before and during my chemo IV injections, and that was basically because of major difficulties tubing me as I understood it. In every case with the scans (including this last one) I could neither eat nor drink a thing after midnight for scans scheduled mornings, similar to preparing for surgery. I could, though, take only my necessary meds, cautioned to drink as much less than an ounce as possible to do so. With the 10 I regularly take each morning that can be something of a challenge.
Other procedures you described were both similar to and different from any I've had, so I guess we must conclude that what I had wasn't technically a PET/CT if you did. I wasn't in a tube, just on a table which went back and forth a few times when I was required to hold my breath. I never saw anything like an oxygen tank, but I definitely felt internal signals after the injection, which was the last thing and just minutes before the last pass through back and forth; actually the feelings were somewhat similar to reactions I recalled during chemo injections I was told of in advance, too. And when I was through then I was given no further instructions. But I'll be seeing my oncologist again on Wednesday, so I'll clear up this question for sure!
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Post by Sunny on Aug 7, 2007 13:58:51 GMT -5
Thank God Tazz, I'm doing a happy dance for you! I know how stressful this uas and so glad the PET scan turned out great. I will be glad when they use this test more often instead of the regular CT scan as the PET scan shows so much better. I think as more and more hospitals get this it will be used more routinely. I watced much of it when Mom had her 2 done. The imaginest was kind enough to let me watch.
At my hospital when I work we have the bone imaineing, CT, MRI and the new heart scan. It is truely amazing when I'm in that part of the hospital.
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Post by thatkylady on Aug 7, 2007 16:53:10 GMT -5
PTL Tazz and Tweety, I wish you all the blessings in the world
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texastazz
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Post by texastazz on Aug 7, 2007 20:54:19 GMT -5
Thanks so much i'm starting to relax a little now.
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Post by dixiedancer on Aug 8, 2007 0:40:20 GMT -5
I will certainly be expecting updates on both of you, Tazz & Tweety. It sounds like really good news with your tests, Tazz. And maybe "No news is good news" for you, too. Tweety. I know you will fill us in after your appt. tomorrow. I'm so glad you could both give us such detailed descriptions of your tests. Thank you.
I will be around for about a week now, before leaving again for a couple of weeks. I'll be spending some time at my daughter, Heidi's, in Sacramento during the next trip, so will be able to check in here from there. My prayers will continue for both of you.
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Post by sherri on Aug 8, 2007 11:09:29 GMT -5
Thanks for the update. Glad it was good
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thenexttweety
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Post by thenexttweety on Aug 9, 2007 0:05:54 GMT -5
The time with my oncologist Dr. Wang wasn't long today because we really had little to cover. I'd have been out of there in a minute or less once the nurse had reported to him that my blood pressure was back where it should be, and that I had no temp, pain or complaints, except for a couple of questions I had.
I did verify that what I'd had was all CT scan, and the reason it included liquids in advance was because of the emphasis on this occasion to affect the liver as well as scan breast and pelvic areas. On the way to see him I'd found a written report on the scan that had come the day before but I'd failed to bring it in from the mailbox. He had seen it too, and it said it all more clearly than statistics I didn't understand anyway: "Your tumor markers are normal! If any questions call," from the tech who did the scan.
Dr. Wang also said the results from the blood tests a week ago when I saw him for my regular check up had come back cleared up since the night of my visit to the ER a few days earlier. He felt results from the tests taken today would be fine again, but he'll contact me if they aren't, and to set my next appointment up with front desk in six months. But before I got out of the office he'd glanced through my record again and came out front to say it might be wise for me to have another bone density test since it had been some time since my last one, and "sometimes there can be effects from the many various medications you take," whatever that means! So I'll be getting a call about that appointment. I know they found evidence of arthritis in some areas that time, but the ibuprofen twice a day seems to control most pain I feel for now.
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Post by dixiedancer on Aug 9, 2007 0:19:07 GMT -5
That's all good news, Tweety! Thanks for the update. I'm really, really happy for you. God bless you. #36_22_25#
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texastazz
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Post by texastazz on Aug 9, 2007 22:47:18 GMT -5
Oh thats great and all your prayers here did help us both and thank you all so much, ;D
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