Sorry I haven't had time for update in a couple of weeks.  With me feeling so much better, I went back to work right after my last chemo treatment and worked up until the day of my current chemo treatment (I'm on day 2 of Chemo #4).

I had a second  PET scan last week.  PET (Positron Emission Tomography) is a scan that uses a radioactive tracer and glucose to show tumor activity. Lymphoma cells are particularly responsive to a tracer called fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG).

A tracer is a radioactive substance containing a form of sugar that cancer cells, such as lymphoma, take up much more readily than healthy tissue does. By tracking how lymphoma cells absorb FDG, PET can show where lymphoma is active and how aggressive it is. The tracer is injected into my port, but comes in a soviet era looking metal box and the syringe is also metal.  It is pretty intense to see.  The scan shows the areas of radiation uptake as light and is able to read minute difference in the luminescence giving a pretty accurate accounting of the diseased cells in your body.

The first PET Scan indicated Stage 3 DLBC Lymphoma and an enlarged spleen.  That scan occurred before I started chemo. This new scan shows very little disease with only a small amount of uptake in a node in my armpit, my spleen looked normal.  The oncologist feels we are 95% of the way there (his words) and was very pleased with the results.  The recommendation is for 3 more rounds of chemo and then we will do another PET scan.

Of course, I am thrilled with these results, but I am tempering my excitement until we know the cancer is truly gone.  This type of lymphoma also has a higher chance of re-occurrence than other types so I'm going to continue to be vigilant.  

I cant thank you enough for the gifts, kind words, tiny things that have shown up in my mailbox, weird texts, visits, calls, and prayers.  You, my dear friends, have made this ordeal bearable. 

Images: Pet Scan Syringe, PET Scan Image from a Journal Article