Waiting for my CT Scan results isn’t fun.

CessnaFlyer
CessnaFlyer Member Posts: 110
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Had a CT Scan today, which is my first since June, 2009. I’m stage 2A and this is like waiting for the other shoe to drop. How do you people stay calm when you know the results of a CT Scan can shatter you lives, if the results show that the cancer has spread to the liver or other organs?

Comments

  • AnneCan
    AnneCan Member Posts: 3,673 Member
    #2
    Who stays calm? I'd like to
    Who stays calm? I'd like to know their secrets too! Scans are stressful, but try to focus on positive reports coming your way. Good luck!
  • Aud
    Aud Member Posts: 479 Member
    #3
    yes...
    ...it is difficult to stay calm sometimes. I found that wonderful denial works best with me. Since feeling anxious will not change whatever the results are, I chose to give very little thought to the unknown results until I actually saw my surgeon. I've had my first PET scan a couple weeks ago and an appointment with my surgeon 1 week after that. I told myself that I'm not going to dwell on it UNTIL I'm actually sitting in my surgeon's office. I'm not sure...I think it may have worked although I was acting a little whacky with my boyfriend the weekend (after the scan) before my appointment with my surgeon! Even at my surgeon's office, I tried distracting myself with a book, but by that time, it didn't work very well. I had anxiety, did some deep breathing and figured I'll deal with it as it comes, when I talk with my doctor.
    My first PET scan came back clear, and when I stepped outside, I felt the world open up...like an antithesis to the swirl of anxiety when I was first diagnosed.

    Here's my advice:
    Know that the results of the scan are there and there's nothing you can do about that. (yes, the results of a scan can "shatter your life," or it can give you tremendous relief, or it can send you into another direction of treatment....it's pointless to guess. It's just not helping you right now.)
    Acknowledge the fact that you're going to speak with your doctor soon enough, but not now, not today, and there are other things you'd like to spend your time doing.
    Choose to do other things that you do have control over. Something fun, hopefully. Even the necessary drudgery of whatever...
    Choose to save all of your worrying, all of your anxiety only for the short time that you visit with your doctor. (If you worry/fret now, it does nothing to add quality to your life TODAY. It does nothing in terms of treatment.)

    With that being said, yes, easier said than done. And I will be holding you in the Light for good results on your scan, less anxiety today/tonight.
    Hoping for all that is good.
    Aud
  • maglets
    maglets Member Posts: 2,576 Member
    #4
    Aud said:

    yes...
    ...it is difficult to stay calm sometimes. I found that wonderful denial works best with me. Since feeling anxious will not change whatever the results are, I chose to give very little thought to the unknown results until I actually saw my surgeon. I've had my first PET scan a couple weeks ago and an appointment with my surgeon 1 week after that. I told myself that I'm not going to dwell on it UNTIL I'm actually sitting in my surgeon's office. I'm not sure...I think it may have worked although I was acting a little whacky with my boyfriend the weekend (after the scan) before my appointment with my surgeon! Even at my surgeon's office, I tried distracting myself with a book, but by that time, it didn't work very well. I had anxiety, did some deep breathing and figured I'll deal with it as it comes, when I talk with my doctor.
    My first PET scan came back clear, and when I stepped outside, I felt the world open up...like an antithesis to the swirl of anxiety when I was first diagnosed.

    Here's my advice:
    Know that the results of the scan are there and there's nothing you can do about that. (yes, the results of a scan can "shatter your life," or it can give you tremendous relief, or it can send you into another direction of treatment....it's pointless to guess. It's just not helping you right now.)
    Acknowledge the fact that you're going to speak with your doctor soon enough, but not now, not today, and there are other things you'd like to spend your time doing.
    Choose to do other things that you do have control over. Something fun, hopefully. Even the necessary drudgery of whatever...
    Choose to save all of your worrying, all of your anxiety only for the short time that you visit with your doctor. (If you worry/fret now, it does nothing to add quality to your life TODAY. It does nothing in terms of treatment.)

    With that being said, yes, easier said than done. And I will be holding you in the Light for good results on your scan, less anxiety today/tonight.
    Hoping for all that is good.
    Aud

    calm
    calm??? waiting for results???? tehehe...I have never achieved that zen state....it's 5 years for me and tests every 3 months and it doesn't get any easier or more calm :):)

    hugs

    mags
  • dianetavegia
    dianetavegia Member Posts: 1,942 Member
    #5
    I have a CEA tomorrow and a
    I have a CEA tomorrow and a CT scan in the next few weeks, my first since just after surgery. Calm? Sometimes but then when I sleep......... all those fears come out like boogey men!
  • impactzone
    impactzone Member Posts: 551 Member
    #6
    scanxiety,,, sucks
    It is tough
  • mom_2_3
    mom_2_3 Member Posts: 953 Member
    #7
    Thinking of you
    Thinking of you and hoping that you have nothing but good news from your scan.

    All the best,
    Amy
  • Lovekitties
    Lovekitties Member Posts: 3,364 Member
    #8
    Waiting is tough
    It seems like we are constantly waiting on something...results from tests, to start a treatment, to have surgery, etc. At every point it can be nerve racking if we let it. Yes, less than stellar results from any of these things can put another fork in the road for us to determine how we will travel forward. The life shattering news for me was 'you have Cancer', the rest is a matter of meeting every challenge and making the best decision I can for whatever remains of my life.

    You can't stop worrying, but you can stop worrying so much. Give yourself permission to have your concerns, but then say 'ok, now I will get on with the rest of my day'.

    Is it easy? He_ _ no it isn't, but you can do it!

    Here's hoping that your scan is clear.

    To better days and better health

    Marie
  • RickMurtagh
    RickMurtagh Member Posts: 587 Member
    #9
    word
    Well Grasshopper to remain calm you must think of cancer as a lotus flower, plucked from the plant, deprived of water only to wither and die, die, die! Then peace will come over you like a Cessna crashing through your roof, all at once and sudden like.

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