Chapel Hill: Day 2

I left the house at 7:15am and drove to Chapel Hill again today. I had to take two tests that required a lot of waiting time... First, I had to get some radioactive material injected into my veins and had to wait TWO HOURS for it to circulate my body before they could do a bone scan. The bone scan was of my entire body and should be able to show past trauma to the bones as well as the presence of cancer in bones. (Breast cancer usually moves from the breast to the lymph nodes and then on to the bones.) They questioned whether I had ever hurt my neck. I don't recall ever hurting it. Of course, I was concerned when they called me back in later to take some extra pictures of my neck.... but, it could be anything.

After they finished the bone scan, they gave me an AWFUL drink (dye for contrast) to consume within an hour for a CT scan. These tests went much faster. (Thank goodness!) I even got back to Greensboro at 4:30 in time to pick up the kids from camp.

I won't get the results of these tests until tomorrow. But, they should be in before my 3pm appointment with Dr. Rubin, my oncologist in Greensboro.

***

If you are interested, here is some info on the tests I took today...

Bone Scan

A bone scan is a nuclear scanning test that identifies new areas of bone growth or breakdown. It can be done to evaluate damage to the bones, find cancer that has spread (metastasized) to the bones, and monitor conditions that can affect the bones (including infection and trauma). A bone scan can often find a problem days to months earlier than a regular X-ray test.

For a bone scan, a radioactive tracer substance is injected into a vein in the arm. The tracer then travels through the bloodstream and into the bones. This process may take several hours. A special camera (gamma) takes pictures of the tracer in the bones. This helps show cell activity and function in the bones. Areas that absorb little or no amount of tracer appear as dark or "cold" spots, which may indicate a lack of blood supply to the bone (bone infarction) or the presence of certain types of cancer. Areas of rapid bone growth or repair absorb increased amounts of the tracer and show up as bright or "hot" spots in the pictures. Hot spots may indicate problems such as arthritis, the presence of a tumor, a fracture, or an infection.

CT or CAT scan

A computed tomography (CT) scan uses X-rays to make detailed pictures of structures inside of the body.

During the test, you will lie on a table that is hooked to the CT scanner, which is a large doughnut-shaped machine. The CT scanner sends X-ray pulses through the body. Each pulse lasts less than a second and takes a picture of a thin slice of the organ or area being studied. One part of the scanning machine can tilt to take pictures from different positions. The pictures are saved on a computer.

A CT scan can be used to study any body organ, such as the liver, pancreas, intestines, kidneys, adrenal glands, lungs, and heart. It also can study blood vessels, bones, and the spinal cord.

An iodine dye (contrast material) is often used to make structures and organs easier to see on the CT pictures. The dye may be used to check blood flow, find tumors, and look for other problems. Dye can be put in a vein (IV) in your arm, or you may drink the dye for some tests. CT pictures may be taken before and after the dye is used.