When you’re diagnosed with cancer, you will feel like you spend your life on a scanner machine, as I am awaiting my 3 monthly scans following my last 4 rounds of chemo, I thought I would give you a breakdown of the different types of scans you might experience.
MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging)
This type of scan uses strong magnetic fields and radio waves to produce detailed images. It can take around 20 minutes. You are injected with a contrast dye to improve the clarity of the images and be prepared it is quite loud when you’re in there, but they will give you ear plugs and headphones to drown out the noise!
This scan you will have quite regularly, I vividly remember having one 3 days after my chemo. I obviously felt horrendous, so I dragged myself out of bed, into my dad’s car and off we went to the hospital. I arrived at the Xray department ready to go. They then informed me I needed to walk back down to the ward to be cannulated first. At this point, they could see I was dripping with sweat and trying my hardest not to vomit on their floor, so they scooped me up in the wheelchair and wheeled me down to the chemo ward.
When I arrived, they tried to cannulate me several times, but for some reason could not get it in the vein. Ever the drama queen, I then started to feel faint. With the aid of an industrial sized fan and 2 poor nurses fanning me with clipboards, eventually the cannula was in. I waved goodbye as I was wheeled away, (I’m not going to lie, I think they were glad to see the back of me!) I arrived back for my MRI to then be told I had missed my slot and would now have to wait another hour and a half- good times! I made sure after that experience, that my scans were booked in at least a week after chemo!
CT (computed tomography)
These scans use X-rays and a computer to create detailed images of inside the body to help diagnose conditions. They inject a contrast dye which contains iodine. They warn you that you will feel a warm sensation in your groin. When it hits you though, you honestly think you have wet yourself, it’s very strange- don’t fear though, luckily no wet patches!
I have had many embarrassing moments throughout my cancer journey, I remember the first CT scans I went to, the scanning team told me to remove my bra as it had metal in it (I didn’t realise at this point my top needed to stay on for the scan though!) As I lay there topless ready to go through the giant polo mint, they politely came back out to inform me I could put my t-shirt back on- oh the shame!
It’s also extremely important that there is no chance of being pregnant, for obvious reasons. I remember having a very lengthy conversation with a male nurse regarding when my last period was and the likely hood that I was pregnant, I assured him there was no chance… long story short it ended in him insisting I do a pregnancy test, better safe than sorry!
PET (Positron emission tomography)
These scans produce detailed 3- dimensional images of the inside of the body and can show how well certain parts of the body are working. For cancer patients they can determine how far the cancer has spread and how well its responding to treatment.
I arrived at the ‘nuclear area’ which in itself sounds pretty scary. I was fitted with a cannula and then asked by a nurse if I liked Sambuca (I thought to myself, everyone likes a drink hun, but shots at 9.30am is probably a bit much for anyone!) She then pulled out a bottle full of clear liquid, which I thought was water, but oh no, it was a thick syrup which was basically like downing a whole bottle of sambuca, called fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG). This is similar to a natural occurring glucose, so your body treats it in a similar way. The scan then analyses where the radiotracer does and does not build up, to see how different body functions are working. Even better was the fact that I was nil by mouth so downing this on an empty stomach just added to the experience.
Whilst necking this bottle over the course of an hour, I was told to lie down in my cubical completely still. I couldn’t even read, as any form of movement can affect where the radiotracer (which is injected around an hour beforehand) goes in your body.
As I lay staring at the ceiling and trying not to vomit, I got chatting to a lady in the next booth, it was like blind date, we never actually saw each other, just shared very intimate details of our current diagnosis.
After I swallowed the last drop of the hideous drink, another nurse came in and congratulated me for managing to drink it all, as it apparently, ‘wasn’t necessary to have the entirety’…nice one!
I then decided I needed the loo, so I trotted off down the corridor, only for a nurse to burst through the doors and sprint after me shouting ‘STOP!’ (At this point I thought the building was on fire) but no, I was moving too quickly apparently. She clearly didn’t trust my judgement and insisted on escorting me to AND from the toilet.
*Official descriptions of scans taken from NHS England website 2021
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*stock image
