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Positron emission tomography (PET) is a functional imaging technique that uses radioactive substances known as radiotracers to visualize and measure changes in metabolic processes, and in other physiological activities including blood flow, regional chemical composition, and absorption.
PET scanners can incorporate a CT scanner and are known as PET-CT scanners. PET scan images can be reconstructed using a CT scan performed using one scanner during the same session.
I don't know which to choose. I really love this delicate line of light on my shoulder but it's again another black and white and I've been doing so many of those lately.
Christophe had an appointment at the hospital, to have a blood test and get some more info on what's going to happen next. He doesn't just need chemo this time, they're going to do a bone marrow transplant for which he'll be in isolation in the hospital for about a month (or two, depending on the results of his next petscan), so we got a little bit of information about how he'll be prepared for this (to begin with, it involves him getting lots of injections and a machine taking his bone marrow to store and later transplant). Scary stuff. But it's good they know how to do all these things, and he should have a good chance at fully beating this thing for good.
Waiting 2 hours for grandfather to go through PetScan can’t say I have a lot of positive thoughts going my head. So I try to think about people behind the window decorations in between of New York Times & cancer thoughts.
This movie shows a three-dimensional view of a patient with active giant cell arteritis, a form of vasculitis. It uses a technology called 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) Positron Emission Tomography (PET). Vasculitis is a group of diseases involving inflammation in the blood vessels. In the movie, inflammation is seen throughout the aorta and its primary branches (green=mild inflammation, red=severe inflammation).
Photographer: Mark A. Ahlman, M.D. and Peter Grayson, M.D., NIAMS Intramural Research Program
We all deal with trouble in different ways. I decided that I was going to get an image of every machine that got an image of me. I missed the first two,but now I'm determined. I posted the CAT scan a few days ago.
This is a PET scanner. A PET scan is a diagnostic procedure—a way to see inside the body without going inside. PET stands for Positron Emission Tomagraphy.
The experience is not unpleasant, just lengthy. You don't exercise for a few days before, and you don't eat or drink for a few hours before. Then a radioactive substance is added to glucose or water and administered intravenously. (The techs flee the room to protect themselves, which is understandable but slightly unnerving.)
Then the liquid travels thoughout the body. I couldn’t feel any sensation of this, and in fact, I just sat around in a comfy recliner and read for an hour. Then I lay on a table and got wrapped lightly in some material with marks on it.
I lay still for about an hour while the table slowly slides through the scanner. Unlike the CAT scan and the MRI, there is no sound. The procedure is silent. The radioactivity emits positrons, which the scanner reads. Apparently, different types of tissues accumulate different amounts of radioactivity. Tissues that accumulate more of the material glow brighter. The machine records all of this, and then a specialist reads and interprets what shows up. Next week I learn the results of all this technology.
These tests help explain the skyrocketing costs of medicine. However, they sure beat cutting someone open to peer inside.
Two weeks ago, a pet scan meant looking in the yard and seeing where Kismet and Maddie were. Now it's a P.E.T. scan, and it's thus far the most important test of my life. The good news is that the test itself (easy) is over and what is, is. You know what i mean?
Maddie, the little one looking at the camera, is so tuned into my emotions. When my mother was dying 2 years ago, Maddie started panting and her fur turned feathery and white in places. The doctor asked me if I'd been going through any big emotional times. I just looked at her, stunned!
Not two days after I was diagnosed with cancer, Maddie's hair started turning feathery and white. How weird is THAT?
Thought: Maybe she is just trying to tell me that she needs a new hairstyle, too!
For anyone living with cancer, scans of some sort are a regular occurrance. Twice a year I get a PET scan to see how well my medications are working. So far, so good.
One thing that struck me is how strong that table must be. I think it's about 10 feet long... as you can see, it doesn't even fit in the frame. But it's only supported at the end away from the machine. Plus, I don't think that it can have any metal in it because metal supports would show in the CT scan.
Diane Ackerman—a poet, dramatist, naturalist, a woman of sophistication and depth—writes the following to accompany an issue of AMERICAN PHOTO (Nov/Dec 1993): "PET scans show that it makes no difference whether we experience an event or imagine it--the same parts of the brain light up. No wonder we are ardent voyeurs, savoring the visual Eden of photography and film."
Between all of the injections and blood extractions, the inside of my arm has been pretty well abused this week. I hate the tape that they use, it leaves a mark, and sometimes gives me a mild rash.
Tuesday March 2nd, 2011
Last Friday I went to Lifescan in Edina for a PET Scan. For the PET scan, a serum of radioactive glucose is injected 45 minutes prior to loading me into the machine. The idea is that cancer cells eat a lot more than normal cells, so they show brighter on the scan. I guess that different radioactive tracers can be used depending on what you're looking for, but currently, the most common use is the detection of tumors.
The nurse warned me that I should avoid small children for the rest of the day. I guess that you remain slightly radioactive till the tracer isotopes decay, which takes a day or so. After being injected, I was left to read for 45 minutes in a comfy leather recliner. While scheduling this test, there was a slight delay with insurance approval. The scheduler suggested I wait to make sure that my insurance covers the test because without insurance, it runs $5,000, so I guess they can afford nice comfy chairs.
The actual scan takes about half an hour. You lie down on a big plank that rises up so that you're centered in the detector donut. Then is slides you through for a quick CT scan that is done so that they can super-impose the PET Scan results over CT imagery of you in the same position. For the PET phase of scanning, the plan moves a little bit and then pauses for about 3 minutes. There was a radio tuned to some top-40 station. I would have preferred NPR, but I didn't think to ask anyone to change it before they started scanning.
Fun fact from wikipedia, a PET scan exposes you to about as much ionizing radiation as you would absorb in a decade from background sources.
Today while I was at the grocery store, my Oncologist Dr Thurmes called to let me know that he had the results for the marrow biopsy and the PET scan, and both are clear. So I'll be meeting him on Friday to talk over things and schedule chemo.
And what's really strange is that this profile is so recognizable...........
I was given a doctor's note when we left - to show to any security people who stopped us - my father would be radioactive for up to 2 days after this test....
Nobody stopped us.
PS: If you use this image (for non-profit use), I'd love to know about it and see the link.
Please give me credit if you use this picture: susan sermoneta
You may use the picture free of charge for non-commerical purposes. Otherwise, please contact me.
The metal shield is to protect the nurse from exposure. Since she handles these injections every day, the accumulated exposure can be quite bad.
I continue to take pictures of the machines that take pictures of me. I know most of the staff at the local imaging places, and they all agree that I have truly mastered the art of doing nothing. I can lie very still for very long periods of time. Often, I'm tucked inside warm blankets; there's a nice pillow under my head; the machines (except for the MRIs) are quiet; and I recite poetry to myself. A scan appointment takes half a day but the scan itself is only about a half hour.
The good folks equip me with what they call a "get out of jail free card." This notifies law enforcement people to contact the hospital in case I happen to set off "radiation detectors set up in public places." Personally, I'd like to know where these detectors are.
Before a PET scan, a radioactive tracer is injected into the patient's body and allowed to sit there for a while. (Anyone interested can learn about scans here). The material was brought into the room inside a heavy metal syringe which inside this metal box, which I'm assuming is lead or some other dense material. As soon as the dose is administered, everyone flees, because the patient does emit a tiny amount of radiation. Individually, such a dose isn't harmful, but to workers exposed to dozens of patients each week, the effect would be cumulative. For some reason, I never noticed this little box in earlier scans.
Do not let circumstances defeat you.
You can if you think you can.
Optimism is the tool to help you get up after a fall, and to keep going toward the life you really want.
Hello my friends!
It's been another hectic, but good week.
Although my doctors have been quite encouraged about my prognosis, I was still feeling a tad apprehensive about things until I got the results of my PETscan back.
Except for the one small tumor
It has NOT spread......the BEST of all possible news!! 8-))
My oncologist says I"m the healthiest gal with cancer he's ever met!!
I don't have any illusions.....my treatment isn't going to be a picnic, and I might not have the best summer of my life, but hopefully the side-effects from the chemo will not be too severe,( I understand they have great drugs these days to combat nausea) and I'll be able to go on with my normal activities, at least in a limited fashion.
I expect that my treatment will actually start sometime after the 4th of July weekend.
Having your lovely pictures to look at, and reading your comments and good wishes will be a big part of getting me through this, and I can't thank you all enough for helping to keep my spirits up!! Hugs to you all! xoxo
Comments are acceptable here.
Once my home away from home. It's a good thing I shoot digital now, or I would fog the film. At the time I took this shot with a pocket camera, I had just spent an hour laying on that machine getting a PET scan.
For those that don't know, a Positron Emission Tomography or PET scan involves being injected with a radioactive tagged chemical, in this case glucose. Since a cancer cell consumes about 1000 times as much sugar as a normal cell, the patient then rests laying perfectly still for about an hour and then is placed in the scanner. A CT is done to paint an outline of the body to frame or locate the hot spots. Then the patient is slowly scanned in an inverse of an X-ray. The radioisotope has a half life of about two hours, so the patient provides the radiation as the radioactive glucose breaks down and and emits positrons.
Technician Thierry Mbuluyo examines cardiac PET scans from a patient who was injected with a medical isotope. These scans highlight blood flow—or perfusion—to investigate blockages in the blood vessels. (Published in The Beat v4i3)
Le technicien Thierry Mbuluyo examine les TEP cardiaques d’un patient qui a reçu une injection d’isotope médical. Ces TEP mettent en évidence le flux sanguin – ou perfusion – afin de voir les obstructions des artères du cœur (publié dans le bulletin The Beat v4n3).
Texto sobre gagueira escrito pela neurocientista brasileira Suzana Herculano-Houzel, no qual ela comenta um estudo pioneiro publicado em 1996 na revista Nature. Saiba mais: bit.ly/19u4SSJ
The top image is from the CT taken along with the PET Scan (bottom image). It's a top-down view of my lungs The red hands are pointing to the actual lymphoma that has moved out of my lymph nodes in my lungs. In the CT, it looks like a grey mass. In the PET, it's glowing. I love that I can get the images from my scans on disc. #cy365 #OffPrompt
If you'd like to follow my journey with all of this, you can visit my CaringBridge site, create an account, and subscribe to receive emails when I post a journal update. www.caringbridge.org/visit/debmoran
Because he has alzheimer's, his jokes about no pets in the pet scan were taken literally, and nobody (but me) laughed. So much for humor.
Had a PET scan today. This is the imaging machine. It was interesting and not too bad. the technicians have senses of humor. They have an interesting little guy sitting on the machine on the left side. I included an inset of a closeup of the guy.
Ended up being a good day 'cause My son and grandkids went with me and we went out to lunch after. They cheered me up.
Luego de felicitar a los grupos Oncosalud y Resocentro, por la adquisición del nuevo PetScan, herramienta de última generación en la lucha contra el cáncer, el presidente Alan GarcÃa afirmó que, de implementarse en serie, "tendrÃamos un servicio de primer mundo para nuestros pacientes".
(Foto: Andina)
#WorldRadiographyDay #November8 #Discovery of #XRay #Roentgen #Prevention of #Injuries #Worldexplorerindia
#Confidentiality #Veracity #Beneficence #Nonmaleficence #Good #Noharm #Patient #Fallprevention #Patientfirst #Patientsafety #Ctscan #MRI #Computedtomography #MagneticResonanceImaging #Nuclearmedicine #Ultrasound #Diagnostics #PETscan #Bonescan #Bone #Bonedensitometry
I wish these would have turned out better.They are the results of the original scan in June and the one from last week. My Doc showed us the orignal tumors--lung and several in lymph nodes. On the current scan they are completely gone.
So, It's official from the Doc's mouth, I am in remission! I am numb. so now I live life. Check ups every three months. Cancer could come back, but I am going to try to keep a positive attitude. It got me this far. Will take me up to 5 months or so to recover from chemo. I can do that!