Help! I think I'm radioactive!

So, if you've never had to undergo an MRI or a PET scan or biopsies, consider yourself lucky. In the past two months, I've had more medical tests and procedures than I've ever had in my life. Here is a quick timeline of what each one has been like and what the doctors found out using them...

June - Mammogram - got one at the end of June like I do every year. This year, it caught sight of calcifications in a milk duct that got biopsied as stage 0 pre-cancer. Scary, but doable. I was supposed to treat it with a lumpectomy and radiation. No problem.

July - Ultrasound before lumpectomy surgery - Feels like a small, slimy rolling pin going over your skin to see below the surface. This was supposed to help them mark the surgery sight, but surprise! There was another mass hiding out in there. Sayyyyyy Whatttttt? No surgery for you. Go home. We need to do an MRI to see how much is in there.

Early August - MRI -

If a dolphin and robot had a baby, it would sound like the MRI machine. Imagine a movie in which you are going to Mars in a tube that makes these sounds, and you will have some idea of what being inside an MRI machine feels like. I had headphones on so the techs could talk to me, and I had a panic button. Just having a panic button made me feel panicked! Also, there is a reason they ask if you are claustrophobic before you get into the machine. I made the mistake of opening my eyes once I was in there and discovered that my face was only 1-2 inches from the top of the tube. Too close! I had to start saying the rosary on speed dial, but I did not press the panic button because I did not want to ruin the test and start over for another 30 minutes. This test showed that I had a 5.9cm long mass on one side and an enlarged lymph node. Gah!

2nd week of August - Two biopsies - The radiologist numbed my side and shot a needle into the mass 6 times plus another 5 times into the lymph node. The lymph node sample came back benign, but the mass came back as invasive ductal carcinoma. Stage II, ...No longer a cakewalk, folks, but the doctor says it is curable for sure. I'm ashamed to admit that before this experience, I didn't know there were so many types of breast cancers and treatments suited for each one...I thought there was just "breast cancer."

3rd week of August - PET Scan & blood tests -

My oncologist suggests that I do these before surgery to see if there is any more cancer "making nests" inside my body because if there is, I cannot do the surgery and have to start with chemo. For the PET scan, I was led to a small room with a recliner. Would you like a warm blanket? Can I dim the lights for you? These are the questions the nurse asked me, and it felt like a spa day until I saw her walk across the hall into the radioactive pharmacy. She came back carrying what looked like a white metal lunch box with a radioactive sign on it. Three shots of that stuff, and I was left to marinate for an hour before the scan. The shots have a glucose dye in them that attaches more quickly to cancer cells, and the radioactivity helps them light up on the scan, so that they can see where the cancer is. In my mind, I'm hoping the cancer birds are not making nests anywhere else.

An hour later: walking into the PET scan room was like being on the set of a space movie. The scanner can best be described as an enormous white mechanical donut that your radioactive body gets loaded in and passed through. Compared to the MRI, this one was silent and more open. It was actually really peaceful if I didn't think about why I was there. Now I am just waiting on the results of this test.

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers! Keep them coming!
Love and light,
Jennifer