Blog IV

I had my PET scan today. I guess the images turned out good, but I don't know how long it will take before somebody looks at them. I have a doctors appointment next Wednesday, so hopefully it will be before then. Last time, my old man had a doctor look at them beforehand so we knew what was coming. We basically know this time as well, I just don't know if somebody is going to look at the results before.

The preparation for the PET is a total bitch. Whereas with the CAT, they just inject you with some nasty shit and you're on your way, with the PET, you have to follow a super low, basically no, carb diet the day before. I know people do this as a matter of lifestyle, but if it's not something you do everyday, it can be really tough and cause you to have a really, really long day. That's basically what yesterday was, a really long and bad day. I had a raging headache all afternoon and made several uncharacteristic screw ups at work. Three of them were pretty easy to fix, but one has the potential to cause me big trouble down the road.

The actual PET itself isn't such a big thing. Unlike the CAT, however, it takes much longer. They first inject you with glucose (and some radioactive material as well), then make you sit in a dark room for half an hour. You can literally do nothing but sit there, however, it can be kind of nice to have some alone time with your thoughts. After that, you go and lie in a machine that basically looks like a CAT scan machine for another half hour. Once again you aren't able to do anything to pass the time. You just lie there.

If I had to compare the CAT scan and the PET scan, I'd say it is about a draw. The prep for the CAT scan is pretty easy. All you have to do is drink the contrast beforehand, which, unlike most people say, I don't find to be that bad. The stuff they inject you with, though, I think some of the most horrendous stuff ever. The injection stuff for the PET is tame and the actual procedure itself can be kind of nice, but the day before totally sucks. All in all, it's a wash.

I totally failed on my diet today, but I think I had a valid excuse. I was hardly able to eat at all yesterday and I wasn't allowed to eat at all this morning. I went on a bit of a Taco Bell bender, which is of course not good. I didn't do well with my water consumption either. I think part of my health failures so far is the fact that I haven't felt truly able to move on yet. While my chemo might be done and my cancer (probably) gone, I'm still doing doctor/medical stuff and as long as I still have my port in, it's hard to get back to "normal" life.

Oh well, you have to keep trying, right? Tomorrow is another day.