“All Clear”
There have never been two more amazing words in the English language. A few days after my birthday I was ordered by my oncologist to have a PET scan. Now, I’ve never had one before and it instantly freaked me out that I’d have to be away from babies, breastfeeding mums and children for at least 6 hours after the test. No kidding.
The test itself was located in a massive lorry outside Parkside Hospital. They pumped me full of radiation and left me to sit on my own for an hour. I needed the loo before the CT scan and afterwards they slapped a big ‘Radioactive Waste’ sign on the outside of it. (That part did make me laugh!)
PET scans are good in that they are able to easily detect if cancer has spread. The radiation is mixed with sugar, injected in and than an hour later they do a CT scan. The CT shows how and where the radiation/sugar mixture is being absorbed by the different areas of the body. From what I understand, cancer cells eat sugar in a different, hungrier way than normal cells. (This btw is the main reason why I try to limit my sugar intake.)
It took 10 days to get the results of my scan. And surprisingly, those 10 days were some of the best I’ve had in a long time. I pushed myself at work, getting to present 5 minutes to the CEO and other C-level executives of the company I work for…getting to hang out with my family, spending time with great friends, and taking Evie to new places around London. I had fun, I was really busy, and I had NO time to sit around and wonder what the results of this test would be.
Before we even walked into my oncologist’s office this afternoon she said I was perfect. ‘No evidence of spread’, NO cancer. NOTHING to worry about. Go live your life!!
I’m overjoyed, yet again more good news. Yet again more happiness, knowing I have more time. More time to keep doing what I’m doing. More time to love the people I love!
I know I’m lucky, and I will never forget it.