Congratulations, you have vertebral sarcoidosis!

Day 961.

In January I had a bone scan and a follow up appointment with the orthopedic surgeon about the lesion they found on my spine last year.

What is a bone scan like?

This has been a pretty easy scan in terms of preparation. No special diet is required, and no fasting. That's a great start!

The bone scan had two parts to it:

• An injection of radio active dye.

• After a period of waiting for the dye to develop, the scan itself.

The injection was pretty uneventful. The nurse finds a lucky vein, and injects the dye. Once injected, there was a wait period before it was time for the scan.

I had been prepared to wait at the facility with water and snacks. Instead I got to go home and wait there for an hour or two.

The only requirement for the scan was to drink lots of water between the injection and the scan.

The machine used to do the scan had no magnets, so there was no need for an ICD technician this time.

The scan started and the staff were lovely. They explained every step and made sure I was comfortable on the table. The scan didn't take very long. Maybe 30 minutes? It is not like an MRI where you get sent into a white tube. There wasn't an enclosed space, but a piece of machine does move very close to your face.

And then it was done.

The follow up appointment

It was a rather surreal meeting with the orthopedic surgeon (hereafter referred to as the ortho) after the bone scan. He was positively elated that the scan report indicated that the lesion is sarcoidosis. With the alternative being cancer, I could see his point.

The ortho took me through the results of the bone scan. He showed me the lesion. It hadn't grown or changed in the last 2 years. So he wasn't worried that it would lead to any problems in the near future.

I asked him if it can grow or change if my sarcoidosis becomes active again, and he said that he has never seen that with any of the sarcoidosis patients that he has had.

He also didn't think it requires any surgery. And just like that, he is happy to discharge me. Bye bye.

How did this make me feel?

I don't know if it is because I have just had a lovely summer holiday with my family, or because I have had time to get used to the idea of a lesion on my spine. But I found the ortho appointment quite humorous.

I have never had a doctor been so pleased to tell me it's sarcoidosis.

Let's hope I continue to have findings like this, and that the ortho is right.