Test/emotional

[dorinda]

ALL THE EMOTIONAL STRESS THAT GOES ALONG WITH THESE TEST ARE SO UnBEARABLE AT TIMES, I HAD A CT SCAN OF HEAD , CHEST ,PELVIC AND MRI OF BRAIN(which was my THIRD of 2 other attempts, i did get some ativan but did it without them). THEN YOU HAVE TO WAIT TO SEE THE ONC. IT IS JUST HORRIBLE. I SAW MY ONC. ON THURSDAY AND EVERYTHING STILL LOOKS . PRAISE GOD!! HE DOESNT KNOW WHY MY CA2729 WENT UP BUT WILL TAKE IT AGAIN IN ONE MONTH. HIS PLAN WAS TO STAY ON THE SAME MEDS ,TAXOL, HERCEPTINE WEEKLY(THIS IS MY 30 TH. TREATMENT) AND ZOMETA MONTHLY. I FRACTURED MY FOOT A MONTH AGO AND HE SAID THAT COULD MAKE IT GO UP OR EVEN MY SINUS INFECTION CAN. HE DIDNOT SEEMED TO CONCERNED SINCE THE ALL THE TEST CAME BACK OK. SO I WILL TRY NOT TO WORRY . I WAS WONDERING WHAT IS THE LONGEST SOMEONE HAS BEEN ON TAXOL AND HERCEPTINE. IT SEEMS TO BE WORKING ON ME AND IT IS BEARABLE. I STILL CAN WORK AND FUCTION SOMEWHAT NORMALLY. HA!! THANKS DORINDA

[chrisy]

Dorinda,
I think a lot of us can relate to the temporary inscanity of these tests. The tests themselves can be traumatic enough (especially the dueling jackhammers of the MRI), then the added stress of waiting for results. It can drive ya crazy, huh!

I'm lucky, I've been able to stay pretty calm during the scans. I do a little bit of mediation/visualization and have nearly fallen asleep several times during PET and bone scans. My stretch goal is to fall asleep in the MRI! The best I've been able to do is envision it as a really loud symphony which I try to mentally conduct or sing along with! Like I said, I'm lucky - not everyone can manage this - my husband made me hold his hand the whole time and he wasn't even "head in" the thing!

As the song says, the waiting is the hardest part. I've got a couple of tricks I use to keep my sanity - one is I never leave without a copy of the scan on CD. Not that I LOOK at it! But it gives me an illusion of control. I do, after all, have the results, I just choose to wait to have them explained by someone who knows how to read the darn things! LOL.

The other mind game I play is mentally setting my worrymeter for the moment I will see the doctor and get the results. Then I refuse to think about it. Not always easy, of course! Sometimes it takes a powerful speedboat down "DE-NILE". And of course that can backfire too, as it did when I had the date wrong and showed up a day early! I was SO distraught (my stressmeter having hit it's apex) my husband had to have my cat call me at work and ask me to come home and pet it. A little furry therapy helps.

Anyway, in this case it's GREAT you got such good news! Way to go - keep up the good work.