Ok so this is a PET Scan. Its the scan that they did where they gave me a shot of some radioactive junk that makes all the cancer cells light up. So to give you an idea of my cancer take a look at the scan and all the super bright area in my chest and the sides of my neck...cancer. Basically he said its like the size of a mini basketball. Pretty crazy huh?
Radiation preparation was really weird. If you wanted to know what it feels like to be abducted and experimented on by aliens I imagine radiation preparation is what it would be like. Here is what we did. They took led me to this room with a huge CT scan machine I laid on the long table bed thing I had to take my shirt off and they have this flat hard plastic mesh mold that they put on you that forms to your body. Its weird because its a hard plastic but they have it soak in hot water to soften it up so they can push it against your body and form it. It was super hot for a second when they first push it on and bolt it down. It feels like trying to push your hand through under armour or something. It stretches and mold to your body shape. They cool it quickly with wet towels and push all over to get an exact fit. There were around 4 people in the room working on it so I had a ton of hands with wet towels pushing and poking me and the mold. I could see anything through the mold so I was left to listening to guess what was going on. Since you are bolted down and can't see it feels a little claustrophobic. Here's one thing that drive me nuts about nurses and doctors. They kept asking me questions while the plastic was drying, but when I'd try to answer they'd tell me not to move or talk. How am I supposed to answer questions then? I couldn't move and they were scooting me around to get me in the right position. They even put two little tatooes on my stomach. They are super tiny little dots like a freckle, but I can now say that I have two tatooes. Then they ran a bunch of simulations and I just laid there in my claustrophobic mold bolted down while the machine was making noises all over the place and the table moved back and forth. This is what the mold thing looks like, I googled it. I'll get some actual pictures of the whole thing and put them up later.
Treatment wise that's where I'm at. So far so good. Life is getting back to normal which means I'm insanely crazy busy again. Just what I said I wouldn't let happen. Work, school, treatments, church, etc. Just busy busy busy. At least we have still found time for some fun stuff. We have done some pretty cool hikes lately which I love doing. Nature is the best place to be, especially when you get far enough out that you can't hear a single car or plane or anything. Just the wind, the animals, the rocks, etc. I love being out there where you can enjoy what is around you. We pack a lunch, take the camera, and take Zoey and its great being out there.
