Pet Scan Report

The doctor called me last week. He said "The PET scan is clear!", and that was it. I said, "Okay." and we hung up. Well great! After a couple of days, however, I realized how short that conversation was. I have a copy of a previous PET scan, and it has a lot of information in it. So, I called the doctor's office and requested a copy of the report. It says, "No definite evidence of disease." Alright!

However, it does mention several things:

It mentions some hypermetabolism in the right A/C joint due to degenerative activity in there (I have no idea about this). It also mentions residual hypermetabolism in my lumbarsacro spine (I have no idea about this either). It also mentioned some hypermetabolic activity in my lumpectomy scar in my left breast. I have noticed that my left breast feels a little sore sometimes, but I don't know why. The radiaolgist who wrote this PET report suggested followup to this area soon. Well, lucky for me, last time I saw Dr. Sherman I asked him, "How will I know the difference between my scar tissue and a lump?" and Dr. Sherman wrote up an order for a mammogram. He appeared to have forgotten to set me up for routine screening mammograms. Kind of like how he seemed to forget (until we asked) to tell us about tumor markers, and how he forgot to write me a prescription for Coumadin when I got the port put into my arm....he forgot until I came in with a clot. Things like this don't instill a confidence in us. And they seem to happen too often. Heck, forgetting to tell me about something in my treatment once is too often for me thank you. The report also showed some symmetric hypermetabolic activity in my tonsillar areas which, the radiologist says, is most likely physiologic. This explains the swollen glands in my jaw from last week and the earache I just got over.

This is why I love the report! It shows me how my body works. If I had not read the report myself, I would have wondered about the earache...and I would have probably called the doctor to make an appointment.

Anyway, my appointment for my diagnostic mammogram is coming soon, and thank goodness. I have read that many times, recurrence occurs in the scar area, and my scar area has been a little sore. While the PET scan shows "no definite mass" in the area, it definitely shows activity in the area. The radiologist thinks it is important to follow up on, and so do we (Mark and I).

Oh yeah, one other thing on the PET scan report is that the seroma in my left armpit is getting smaller (it is now 2.7 cm). It's about time that sucker is shrinking! My surgery was on February 28th, for goodness' sake!

The report could be better..it could have said, "No evidence of disease" instead of what it actually did say ("No definite evidence of disease") But then it could have been many, many times worse.