Good news

Sitting here waiting for the bone scan...killing time...  


Got to St. John's this morning for the Bone Scan and Brain MRI at 9:30.  Got the injection of MDP, (technetium Tc99m medronate) which they bring to you in a lead box clearly marked with the Nuclear warning sign...  It has its own special lead vial too. It was pretty scary looking but I think with things like this it is best not to think about it too much.  Thinking about nuclear medicine, radiopharmaceuticals, gamma rays, radiation, radioactive isotopes, blah blah blah, can make you crazy.  I haven't studied the periodic table of elements since high school and I don't remember that much but some of the "stuff" I've been injected with occurs really deep down on the table and doesn't occur in nature.  They are all synthetically produced. Gadolinium was the second one I got during the Brain MRI.  Two in a day. Whammo!  No wonder I can't hold the children.  Holy crap.  

Brain MRI was a lot of fun.  Fun if you like sitting completely still in a helmet inside a dark cold cave while putting your head next to the bass speaker at a techno rave.  Boom. Boom. Boom.  Thankfully, I can close my eyes and practice my breathing and mediation.  With total recall and pitch I can hear inside my mind Dr. Mao saying "breathe in.......breathe out... while saying the word "calm" in your mind...." Made the time go by very quickly.

While waiting for the Brain MRI Angela from Dr. McAndrew's office called me and asked if I could come in a see the doctor at 3:40 today...I had to stop her and say, "was everything OK with the scans?" (Otherwise why would she want to see me immediately?!?!)  She said the scans were good.  THE SCANS WERE GOOD!  Did you hear me?  The scans were good.  She said that I was originally scheduled to see Dr. McAndrew on January 31st but she wanted to see me sooner to finalize my treatment plan so she was able to squeeze me in today...Whew.  Still will need to get the results from today's scans but that news certainly made me feel much better.  I can breathe a little bit easier now.
While I was sitting in the MRI machine today and yesterday I try to wrap my mind around who would invented this type of medicine and machines.  I hope they are retired on their own island somewhere in paradise.  I know, I know....I'm sure it was a team of engineers, physicists and medical professionals worked for a period of years and years to do something major like that but I really can't warp my mind around it.  Amazing. Just amazing.  I wish I could be smart enough to do something like that.

Last night at Sue's we watched the Crazy, Sexy Cancer documentary.  The producer and subject of the documentary, Kris Carr, was 31 when diagnosed with a rare form of vascular cancer.  She had 24 tumors.  She is a huge supporter of the vegan lifestyle and has been all over TV, magazines, and the internet speaking on healthy living.  The documentary was very good but I was waiting throughout the whole documentary for her to say that her lifestyle changed her prognosis and she was in remission.  From what I can tell that isn't the case.  Her message is that you can LIVE with cancer.  I was a little let down by the film since I thought she was going to say she got diagnosed with cancer and through her newfound vegan lifestyle was able to save herself.  Not so.  Bummer dude.  I want someone to tell me that the cancer-free diets worked for them.  Yes, she feels healthy and her cancer is manageable and hasn't changed much but she is still living with 24 tumors.  That isn't a happy ending in my opinion.

OK, going in soon.  More later once I meet with Dr. McAndrew and find out the plan!!!