Third PET-CT scan

I haven't written a scientific post in about two months.  With the resources I have and my training, I should do better.  I should read more, think about what I read, and post my conclusions. I will surely learn something and might pick up something unexpected.  Maybe I'll find something that gives my therapy a much needed boost or nudges it into previously unexplored territory.  On the other hand, it's always a long way from an exciting research paper to a proven therapy.  With this thought in mind, I got distracted, and now it's too late for anything substantial.  Instead, here's what happened today.

I had my third PET-CT scan, a follow-up on last week's somewhat inconclusive CT scan.  The technician was the same as last time.  I feel I should be getting loyalty benefits.  The procedure was also the same.  I arrived with an empty stomach, was hooked up to a drip and received a radioactively labeled sugar.  This sugar goes to where it's needed.  Cells of high metabolic activity turn it over and accumulate the radioactive label, which is then detected.

To distinguish cancer cells, which are always highly active, from healthy cells, one just has to remain immobile for an hour before the scan.  In a resting individual, most cells don't do much and consequently won't light up in the scan.  I lay in the same room as before, with the lights dimmed, a backlight photograph of a relaxing mountain scene on the wall and soothing music playing softly from a small stereo.

For the first time, I recognized the picture on the wall.  It showed Kleine Scheidegg, the saddle between Eiger and Lauberhorn, and Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau in the background.  The Kleine Scheidegg station is the start of the Jungfrau railroad.  My mom and I had been there a month and a half ago.

After an hour of rest, the technician directed me to the scanner.  I lay down on the table and was driven through the big humming torus over the next twenty minutes or so.  By noon, the whole procedure was over.  I made it to work just on time for lunch.  A PET-CT scan has no detrimental effect on one's well-being.  The afternoon flew by.

The CT scan last week was much worse.  It had knocked me out.  The scan was obviously not directly responsible for this.  It's just radiation.  But it needs contrast agents for better images, and I once showed a minor allergic reaction to one of them.  Now I'm given the antihistamine tavegil before every scan.  It's most common side effects are sedation and somnolence.  I was warned not to drive a car for the rest of the day.  Riding my bicycle home didn't strike anyone as foolish.

According to the drug's information leaflet that I've just read, the peak of activity of tavegil is reached five to seven hours after injection.  I got my shot above five minutes before the contrast agent.  If I had got the injection a few hours earlier, I would probably have got away with a tenth of the dose and a tenth of the tiredness.  For this, I'd happily come to the hospital earlier.  Something to mention for next time.