Scanxiety

before a scan and results. 

I play out in my head how I will react if the results are bad. What I will do, who I will tell, will I go back on chemo or will I let nature takes its course.  I play with how I will die, and what my funeral will be like. I ask myself how much my children will react, will they really miss me. I allow myself all of those awful, depressing thoughts, and then I pull myslef out of it, and wait out the days until my appointment. 

It is an awful time, and for me at least, I feel the same five years out as I did two months out. It never gets any better. 

But I don't let it ruin my days - can't seem to control those night hours though - and I have my worries and then enjoy what I have until they engulf me again. 

Roll with it, Abita. Don't feel guilt unless you completley shut down and live in your bed - then you have allowed it to get the better of you. 

We all know that no amount of stressing will change those results, but it is a normal realction none-the-less. 

Hang tight, forum friend.

Tru

I'm an action type person.  So I have to be actively doing something.  Sitting and waiting just doesn't sit well with me.  On other posts about scan results, I've mentioned I don't wait till my next appointment with my doctor to get the results of scans.  I get them the same day usually within a couple of hours after walking out of the scan facility.  Doing this for one occupies my head with tasks to do.  Only recently has my doctor gotten the results of a scan before me.  He knew how obsessive I get with getting results quickly.  He sent me a text message telling me all was good.  I still contacted the radiology company to have them email me the actual report for me to review.

I guess scanxiety might not be a thing for me anymore as my doc said no more scans.  Next checkup will only be blood work which for me is CEAxiety as my CEA has been way abnormal for 3 years now.

The anticipation of a scan can sometimes be so overwhelming.  I'm not sure if your doctor can call you, or you can wait for the results so you don't need to schedule an appointment weeks out for the results, like a suggested post above.  Sometimes that can happen if you have a very caring provider.  You might want to ask, just so you don't have to wait.  Wishing you the best outcome.

Kim

abita said:

As of my last call while the

As of my last call while the office was open Friday, the radiologist had still not processed my scan.

I don't know when you had your scan.  Was it Thursday or Friday (in the morning or in the afternoon)?  I found that if I scheduled my scans to be in the morning, I would get my results in the afternoon.  The pattern I've seen is the radiologists usually need about 2 to 3 hours to review the scans.  This has held true for the two different places I've had my scans done: Community Radiology and the local hospital.

I don't know when your appointment with your doctor is but I would call today and see if the report is ready.  I'd be surprised if it's not done today and ready for you to pick up.  I used to have to go in to the radiology office to get my report in person.  They've changed their policy where they'll email the report to me using the email they have on file.  The only thing I have to do is reply back to an email they send out first consenting to the report being sent to me via email.

It is always hard to balance the good with the bad.

I am happy to hear that the liver mets have all but disappeared.  Concentrate your energy toward those Lung mets, and hopefully they will follow suit. 

Tru

abita said:

I just looked at my scan. It

I just looked at my scan. It has that the lung mets grew by .5 cm, .3 cm., and .1 cm. He did say lung scans are not always as precise, so don't worry. Also, trying to remind myself that sometimes with targeted drugs, the tumors get bigger even when it is working.

Also remember that CT scans take sample/slices of images of your body.  I think it's 2mm slices.  Between that and how you are positioned on the table will affect the fine measurements of any tumors.  I have two hemangiomas which depending on the radiologist, how I'm positioned on the table, the moon, sky.... will vary by .1 to .2 cm in the measurements being reported by the examining radiologist.  The .1cm one, I would chalk this one up to being within the margin of error and possibly the .3cm too.  The .5cm one might not be as big a growth as being reported.  The next scan would reinforce any rate of growth if any.

Hope this helps a little.