Ex.haus.ted!
My dad and I were at St. Luke's Outpatient Center at 6 a.m. yesterday morning for my bone scan and CT scan.
For the bone scan, the radiologist gave me an IV (on the second try!) and inserted radioactive dye into my system. The dye was very cold going in so for the next two hours while it circulated, I froze! The scan itself was about 25 minutes long. It wasn't a tube like the MRI and it was very quiet, unlike the MRI. I had to lie perfectly still on my back while they slowly backed me under a large square that scanned from the top of my head to my toes. When that was complete, they took an additional picture of my head and my ribs.
Before the CT scan, I had to drink three glasses of this citrusy milkly substance--not good. It was supposed to fill up my bladder and colon so they could see more. This scan only took about five minutes. They took two pictures from my neck to my pelvic bone and then I was given more dye for contrast and they took a few more. This dye was also cold and because the IV had been in for several hours by then, was extremely uncomfortable.
We ate lunch when we got home and Bella and I took a nap. I slept for over three hours and was still tired when I finally got up.
Results should be back by Tuesday.
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Sue Sassmann's fight against breast cancer.
About Me
- Sue Sassmann
- A day after my 38th birthday, I was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma. As a wife and mother of three beautiful daughters, I never imaged my life would take this path.
Behind the Scenes
Background for what's going on now...I was diagnosed on Friday, March 28, 2008 with breast cancer—infiltrating ductal carcinoma (also called invasive ductal carcinoma). Atypical cells–cells that, for an unknown reason, mutated as they grew–have collected in the ducts in the breast. At some point, these atypical cells broke through the duct wall, and started moving into the surrounding tissue. This is when the cancer crossed the line from DCIS–ductal carcinoma in situ–to invasive (infiltrating) ductal carcinoma–IDC. It’s the most common type of breast cancer.
I am ER (estrogen receptor) and PR (progesterone receptor) positive and HER2 negative. All that basically means is that my prognosis is good and I’ll respond well to treatment. Blood work and chest x-ray are clear!
After the MRI, it was determined that the right side is clear, but they found another spot on the left closer to the breast bone. Because I’m opting for the mastectomy on the left, they don’t have to test it, they’ll just remove it.
Surgery was April 28 and the results of the surgery weren't as good as we had hoped. The surgery and the mastectomy went alright, however they found cancer cells in the lymph gland nearest the cancer. Dr. Radford took out the remaining lymph glands on the left side. We are looking at aggressive chemo in hopes of killing any remaining cancer cells and reconstruction looks like it'll be in three months or so.
I am ER (estrogen receptor) and PR (progesterone receptor) positive and HER2 negative. All that basically means is that my prognosis is good and I’ll respond well to treatment. Blood work and chest x-ray are clear!
After the MRI, it was determined that the right side is clear, but they found another spot on the left closer to the breast bone. Because I’m opting for the mastectomy on the left, they don’t have to test it, they’ll just remove it.
Surgery was April 28 and the results of the surgery weren't as good as we had hoped. The surgery and the mastectomy went alright, however they found cancer cells in the lymph gland nearest the cancer. Dr. Radford took out the remaining lymph glands on the left side. We are looking at aggressive chemo in hopes of killing any remaining cancer cells and reconstruction looks like it'll be in three months or so.
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