Anxious week

[aquamak]

I haven’t posted for a while but I wanted to update everyone. This week is a tough one for me as I am scheduled for 6-month follow-up scans. I have a brain MRI scheduled for Wednesday AM and a full-body PET scan scheduled for Friday AM. I see my oncologist Friday afternoon for the results. As most of us, I have has all kinds of aches and pains, especially after my total neck dissection and parotidectomy. Of course, I am nervous and scared of the results. The bright side is that after my MRI on Wednesday, I get my 1st dendritic cell vaccine on the clinical trial. After that, I will get 4 more vaccines (in up to 10 locations on my body) with close clinical follow-up afterwards for side effects or reactions. If the trial goes as planned, the dendritic cells will boost my immune system and potentially go after any rogue melanoma cells if they exist. I’ll keep everyone posted.

[aquamak]

Well you are still all stuck with me here in the Stage 3 forum (and believe me I am glad to be here).

6-month PET scan and brain MRI clear-NED!

[Linny]

That is fantastic news!!! YAY!!!

But, welcome to the world of “scanxiety”.

I’ve have scans every 6 months over the past two years and it doesn’t seem to get any easier. I’m a wreck. At my last visit, a nurse had just finished taking my blood pressure (180/110) when the doctor walked into the room and told me my CT scan was a clean as a whistle. First thing out of my mouth was, “can we please take my blood pressure again right now?” Fortunately they take the vitals again at the end of my exam and my BP was something like 118/60.

Unfortunately the contrast they use for the CT elevates your blood pressure. So when you couple that with stress, it can get very dicey. 😮

There definitely is nothing comparable to that feeling of elation you have when the doctor tells you that your scans looked great.

[Author]

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