I had my first post-chemo PET scan last Friday, and got the results yesterday.
It was clear. The cancer is gone.
So obviously, I’m beyond thrilled at that. I’m officially cancer-free!
The unfortunate side of that is that it doesn’t really have an impact on my treatment regimen. In order to avoid recurrence, I’m still having radiation treatment. Today was radiation mapping, which I have to say was a trip.
First thing they do is to create a radiation mask, which they then mark to figure out where to zap me, and which positions me on the table. It’s made of a plastic material that softens when heated and hardens when cooled. So Van, the rad tech, and Tiffany, his assistant, get me laid out on the table, positioned, and press this stuff over my face, which they then press and mold to my features. This is not a procedure for the claustrophobic, by the way.
When they’re done with that, they quickly cool it with cool towels, and it starts to harden. Once it seems pretty hard, they lifted it from my face briefly to get some air into the back side of it, and then dropped it right back on there and fastened it to the table. I look, and feel, like Hannibal Lecter.
It’s not the most comfortable feeling being fastened to a table. My head, neck, and upper chest were tightly fastened down. Van tells me we’re going to be done in a few minutes, then walks out of the room and shuts off the light. Now I’m fastened tightly to a table, and it’s pitch dark, and I’m mildly freaked out. The mask seems tight, and I feel like I can’t swallow, and my throat is dry. But I lie there and suck it up, because I know if I freak out and ask them to take it off, I’m just gonna have to go back for more and it’s simply going to take longer. So I try to relax.
After the CT scan is done, Van turns the lights back on and tells me he needs to take a couple digital photos before he cuts me loose. Then he cuts me loose, has me put my shirt back on, takes my picture without the mask, and sends me home.
So next Thursday I get to go back, they’ll put me in the mask and we’ll do a dry run. The following Monday I get my first shot of the real thing. And then 8:15AM every day for a month or more, I get to keep doing this.