What happens next??

Although this is pretty normal for me, I got to thinking that most people haven't ever had a PET scan. So if you're with that crowd, perhaps you’d like to step inside. It is, actually, pretty fun. You are not really required to restrict your diet much, or gulp offending liquids. You needn’t cleanse any body parts or functions, any more than when you take a shower in the morning. One avoids eating in the six hours leading up to the test, as a way to avoid little surprises in your gastric system….air pockets, seeds, other non-descript little bubbles. It is also important to avoid "white noise" that might accompany yogurt, or milk, or salad dressing.

If your appointment is at nine am, you arrive an hour early. You remove all metal objects, but those of us with experience don’t bring any in the first place. The goal of the next hour is to settle your body and muscles to a state of high relaxation, because the nuclear sugar that they use in the test will be attracted to muscles or other areas that have an interest in feeding themselves.

Of course, cancer cells are the most interested in feeding themselves fast food. One’s body needs to be fairly relaxed in order that any possible cancer cells grab the nuclear sugar and the other, healthy muscles leave it alone. Experienced test takers drag their iPods with them, set on the earphones, and become vegetables. The nice technician won’t let you even read the paper, because holding it steady uses muscle tone.

After relaxing an hour or so, I’m escorted into the procedure room. A giant doughnut awaits. They lie me down, with my relaxed muscles and organs at the ready, and pass me through the doughnut a couple of times. A gentle voice reminds me to breathe at the right time, and hold my breath at the right time(s). Faster than I can imagine, the same voice suggests, “OK, we’re done.”

It takes five to ten minutes to actually DO the work, and nearly an hour to prepare. I suppose that’s a lot like a great meal for those of us who enjoy cooking.

Easy. The hard part is waiting for the results.