Tazered

I’m sitting once again in a nuclear medicine department while waiting for the nuclear dye to work its way through my body before…yet another…bone scan (the 3rd I’ve had in my life). Anyone who has been sent for a bone scan knows they’re looking for serious sinister shit.

My week started pretty good. I had to see my oncologist on Monday morning for my 6 month review and results from my bone density scan. All my life I’ve had above average density, despite all my medical trauma. Hormone imbalances, fried ovaries, never given birth or breastfed, copious long standing steroids, chemo, radiotherapy, all of which should have rendered me osteoporosis material, well in the negs, over a decade ago. I guess it makes my above average density some what of a mystical miracle.

So I shouldn’t have been that surprised when my luck changed with yesterday’s result, being told I still maintain a now just average density, compared to the common folk (which I fondly attribute to my cheese and milk with chocolate and appetite for the sun, providing me with much needed vitamin D to absorb the calcium), it has dropped by half since being on my hormone blocker. A side affect I was made aware of before starting the protocol of 5 years letrozle followed by 10 years of tomoxifon.

Two options, continue letrozle and combine with infusions of phosphorus, born with its own side effects and risk osteoporosis OR start tomoxifon which can lead to blood clots and possible uterine cancer. Rock and a hard place.

Doc sent me for emergency bloods, ultrasound and bone scan (because I complained about tender ribs – could be metastases she thinks but is not stupid or insensitive enough to voice). I’ve always said I’ll have Hysterectomy when I start tomoxifon I was just not expecting it to be so soon.

I had my blood taken at the hospital and the lovely chatty nurse has to check what a BCR-ABL is before starting (it checks for the Philadelphia abnormal chromosome cancer marker – a test I get biannually to keep tabs on my leukaemia). She then continues to remove the vacuum syringe before she has filled all the vials….bahaha she says, “no one has this many vials, I just forgot”

I then head to my uterine ultrasound in the afternoon, not realising it was an external AND internal ultrasound (I would definitely have lubed up if I’d known, given my lack of hormone production). Oh well grin and bear it. I think to myself. Picture this, an ultrasound stick up me and someone knocks on the door. My radiographer, discreetly peeps her head out, calmly comes back to me and says “there is an emergency evacuation taking place. There’s a fire”… of course there is :). Lucky we were pretty much done.

This morning was the bone scan. Nuclear and radioactive again. An 8.15am start then back at 11am for a 45 to 60 minute scan. RESULTS are in tomorrow.

Happy days xx