Radiation Oncologist PET Scan

 

I saw the radiation oncologist at my transplant center even though I had no intentions of doing radiation at my center as it takes us two hours to get there, and it's a headache to get to. He told us that the cancer had invaded the nerve and that the lymph nodes that were removed, came back benign. This was news to us. My surgeon never told us any of that. He also said he didn't think the cancer spread. That still didn't relieve my anxiety about it spreading. He told me I would need radiation for 6 weeks, 5 days a week. He showed us this plastic board that would be molded to my face and, I believe, upper shoulders. He asked if I was claustrophobic, to which I replied, "Yes." The oncologist said, I might need to have my doctor prescribe Ativan for the first week of radiation. He said it would take somewhere between 5-10 minutes. They don't want you to move at all, as it's targeted very precisely to hit certain areas.  He told me after the first week, I would most likely not have any side effects. However, he said that after that, I would feel like I had a bad sunburn, possibly have dry mouth, and have sores in my mouth. 

I called up Memorial Sloan Kettering, and I got an appointment to see a medical oncologist and a radiation oncologist for the 16th, and 17th of this month. They told me they would do the work of getting my reports and radiology images. This was a big weight lifted, as I wasn't sure how I was going to get the images to them. My surgeons office, who originally prescribed the MRI and ultrasound, was not too helpful. 

I had a lot of anxiety waiting for the PET scan and the results it might yield. I did a lot of grounding meditations and box breathing. I also made sure to get to sound bowl healing class and I spent lots of time with my family, to distract myself. My brother just happened to buy Dr. Mario for the original Nintendo Entertainment System. We used to play that a lot as kids, so we played that and we had such a fun time. I spend Friday afternoons and nights with my sister and her two girls and we always have a good time. I spent some quality time with my mom as well. 

The results came back that I did not have cancer anywhere else. This was on an unseasonably warm day, with temperatures in the mid 70's. It was one of the best days I had in a long time. I had just gotten things scheduled at Sloan, and then I got the news that the cancer hadn't spread. I went to the park with my niece, and we sat on a bench and ate a hotdog from the hotdog truck. I took a drive with good music and the windows rolled down, and then later went back to the park to spend more time on a bench just enjoying the weather. I had sprained my foot a while ago, so I couldn't walk around the park, so I did the next best thing. Being in nature is very grounding for me.