Going nuclear

Day 18.

I was discharged from hospital after my ventricular tachycardia with a note that I would get booked in for an FDG-PET scan. This scan appointment came around a lot faster than I had expected on Thursday, 16 June 2022.

I received a letter in the post advising me of what to expect from the PET scan, and things I needed to do before and after the scan.

The pre-scan diet

The PET scan relies on the patient not having glucose in their body when the scan occurs for the best quality pictures. In order to minimise glucose, patients have to follow a special diet from 36 hours before the scan, and also fast (nothing to eat) for the last 12 hours before the scan.

I usually have a lot of fruit and dairy in my diet, and as a result I found this really tough to follow.

Rule 1: no sugar and no fruit

This rule is pretty straight forward. No food or drink that contains sugar. This rules out fruits, fruit juice, soda and also alcohol of course.

Veggies, nuts, yogurt, eggs, meat

No fruit, no dairy, no coffee

Rule 2: no carbs or starch

No bread, no baked goods, no cereal, no rice or grains, no potatoes or kumara (sweet potato) or any other starch

Rule 3: no dairy

No milk, no butter, no cheese, no yogurt

Rule 4: do have protein

Have fish, chicken or any other meat, nuts, or eggs.

Rule 5: do have vegetables and greens

For some reason I had a lot of trouble deciding if tomatoes are a fruit or a vegetable. To be honest, I am still not sure. In the end, I didn't have any tomatoes.

Rule 6: do have water

Have as much water as you want.

I ended up having a lot of herbal and rooibos tea without any sugar or milk. I had a lot of nuts to snack on.

The scan

I went into the radiology laboratory where I was receiving my PET scan on the day. My appointment was scheduled for noon. It started off with me being taken to a small, dark room where I was injected with some radio active material (mine was flown in from Australia to New Zealand - very exciting) as contrast.

Then I was asked to wait and relax for an hour in the small dark room fro an hour sitting in a reasonably comfortable couch. Without thinking of anything, using my phone or reading a book. This wait was for the radio active material to bind to any inflammation. Any excessive brain activity during this process apparently will result in the nukes lighting up your brain instead of your heart - no pressure on not thinking any thoughts.

After an hour I, was called / woken up and went to a much larger room with a white, space-shippy tube. The radiologist and nurses watched and gave me instruction me from a separate (nuclear free) room.

After the scan

Once the PET scan was done, I got to return to my little, dark room and get ready to leave.

My first focus on leaving the radiology lab was: foooooooood. I was aware that I was a little radio active.

I was told not to be in the same room as children for at least 2 hours after my scan. This lead to a few logistical challenges in both the food department and the going home to the family department. I opted for a delicious scone takeaway from a cafe and eating it by my lonesome while waiting to de-nuclearise.

I was advised by the labs that my results would be shared within 3 working days with my medical team. Time to wait impatiently.