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PET Scans Are Better Than MRIs

The latest update on my cancer journey

Shefali O'Hara
2 min readJan 25, 2023
PET scans from healthybrains.org

I had my first PET scan today. It was from my brain to my thighs.

I had to get up at 5:30 so my friend could take me to San Marcos for my 8:00 appointment. One thing that was sorta cool — it was in a mobile unit. They will be in Laredo next. These mobile units are a way for poorer communities to still have access to PET scans.

In addition to having to get up at 5:30, I also wasn’t allowed to eat anything or drink coffee or tea beforehand. Dealing with the day without my morning cuppa is rough. But I was only allowed to take water prior to the scan.

Anyway, on top of being caffeine deprived, I was nervous as heck.

My oncologist wanted me to have a PET scan because there is some unusual activity occurring, apparently, according to my blood tests. Of course that freaked me out when they first told me about it. However, it might be due to something besides cancer and this can will help them figure it out.

So I was nervous partly because I have no idea if the abnormal readings are due to more cancer nodes or due to, hopefully, something more benign.

The other reason I’m nervous — I hate loud, noisy tests while I am stuck inside what feels like a coffin.

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Shefali O'Hara
Shefali O'Hara

Written by Shefali O'Hara

Cancer survivor, Christian, writer, engineer. BSEE from MIT, MSEE, and MA in history. Love nature, animals, books, art, and interesting discussions.

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