The PET scan

So, today was the day of the PET scan. I think Seth is working on getting a full set of scans completed during his treatment. He has had an ultrasound, several x-rays, 2 CTs, 3 MRIs, 2 Bone Scans, so today’s PET scan must complete the set?! Anyway, the reason for the scan is to hopefully tell us once and for all what is going on in the bones in his back and whether he needs further Chemo. Initially we were going to have to go to London for the scan as, although it is being done of the NHS, PET scans are actually outsourced (?!) to a private company and their policy is that anyone under eight has to be scanned under General Anaesthetic and therefore has to go to London for the procedure! Luckily Seth’s consultant was very persuasive and when she pointed out the long list of scans that he has had previously, whilst being wide awake, they relented.

First stop of the day was the Childrens Assessment Unit for a cannula to be put in. A tricky start, as it took 4 attempts to get one in and Seth was grumpy and feeling like a pin cushion by the time we left. He had cheered up though by the time we arrived in Nuclear Medicine and was very chatty with the lovely nurse that was looking after him. She explained to him what was going to happen before and during the scan and then they injected the radioactive dye into him. We had to wait an hour for the dye to take effect so we caught up on some Harry Potter (we are now on the final book – not sure what we are going to do when we finish!).

The scan was fairly straight forward, only 18 minutes compared to over an hour for an MRI, and he was beautifully still for the whole scan. As we left they spoke to us about the fact he was radioactive and would be for the next 8 hours so he needed to avoid close contact with other people. The walk out the hospital was interesting, every time someone came near him he ran away.  When we got home he put himself into isolation in our room (his thinking being that he had a TV and toilet and didn’t need anything else!) and told no one to come in.

Now we are waiting again, results should be about a week….