(Please read About Me section first by clicking on the three lines on the top right hand side of this page. Then click on About to find the whole story)
Today I hope is the last long day of testing. After this I should know the stage of my cancer and if it has spread anywhere else in my body. My day started at 6:30 in the morning. My first appointment was a PET scan. I had never had one before, it wasn’t too bad just long. First they had to insert some dye into my veins through an IV. Then I had to drink a large glass of this milky stuff that was gross. But then I got to take an hour nap in a small dark room covered in warm blankets to let the dye run through my body. The only difficult part about this was hearing a little girl in the room next to me having a hard time with all of this. The drink. The nap. The IV. Being in the scan alone. Up until now at all of my appointments, I have seen mostly elderly people. No one my age. But the sudden reality that this happens to children as well just broke my heart. And listening to her parents outside the curtain not able to be in the room with her really made it sting. After that I fell asleep and was woken up when it was my turn. They brought me in. I loved not having to get in a gown all day. I hate doing that. I got set up in the scan. They flushed liquids through my IV during the scan. This made my body feel very hot. Almost like standing next to a fire but that only lasted 2 minutes. Then I continued to stay still in the machine. The scan itself lasted about a half hour. Then I was good to go. On to my second appointment of the day. An echo heart exam. I believe this is done to make sure that my heart is strong enough for treatment among other things too. That was a quick ultrasound test.  I then went to my last appointment which was my bone marrow biopsy. This is the one I was the most scared about. They have to stick a needle into my bone to get a biopsy of the bone and then suck out some of the fluid in the bone. This is to see if the cancer has spread to my bone however, with the type of cancer I have it is unlikely but we still have to know. As I was checking in at the desk I saw my cousin Bobbie. She is the only other young person in my family to have had cancer. She had leukemia at 15 years old. I had no idea that this was the cancer center she went to. She is in her 30’s now and in remission but she was coming for a checkup. I found that to be a great surprise to see her there right before my bone barrow biopsy. I was able to ask her about it since she has had many in her life. After checking in they brought me to my exam room. Explained that I will have two biopsies. One on each side of my hip bones and the incision should be very small. About 5 doctors with white coats came in. Of course there always has to be two for the procedure then two residents who watch and then a lab person to administer my drugs. I chose to take both of the drugs. One for anxiety and one for pain. Once I got those I really didn’t care as much about the procedure which helped. They numbed me up. Then started grinding and picking away at my bone. I wouldn’t say this hurt but it is a very different feeling. There was ALOT of pressure. I started to get a few sharp pains so they gave me more morphine. This lasted about a half hour. I had to stay for an additional hour to monitor bleeding and then I was free to go. I could hardly walk I was very drugged up. During the ride home I began to feel nauseos. Luckily there was a bag in the car because I threw up a lot. Once I got home I went to bed and threw up a few more times and then slept for quite awhile. My back is quite sore. Especially when I walk. That was my day. I get all the results next Wednesday. Another long weekend ahead.