Good morning! Here we go with day 2 of scans.
Today Sydney will be having her MIBG scan. To me, this is perhaps the scariest of all of the scans. Of everything, this is the one I fear the most. If Sydney does relapse I would suspect to see it in her bones. I know many may argue with that philosophy but I believe it is entirely dependent on what you believe about Sydney's disease. If you believe that Sydney relapsed years ago then you would have to assume that she is most likely MIBG negative which would mean that this scan is probably worthless. Why scan using a radioisotope (MIBG) that has been shown to no longer be taken up by her neuroblastoma? However, if you believe that she may not have relapsed, if you believe that all of this could have been just another anomaly, then you have to suspect that she is still most likely going to be MIBG avid. In other words, she would be sensitive to this scan.
Guess where I my beliefs hope to fall?
So, while I don't know whether we will ever be sure whether she truly relapsed or not, I see that there is a possibility that she did not. She could still be MIBG avid. If that is the case then she would be more likely to stay that way. I believe, given the characteristics of her disease from the very beginning, that, if she does relapse, the first place we will be able to see it is in the bones.
So, at this point, if you are still with me, that is the very complicated and convoluted reason that this particular scan bothers me the most. Well, that, and because this scan is so specific. If she lights up on a CT, a MRI, a PET, or a bone scan it could still be something else. There is still some hope. It isn't always neuroblastoma. False positives on MIBG scans are a different story. They are almost non existent and extremely rare. Leave it at this. You don't want to see any disease with MIBG.
So, anyway, enough of my madness. First thing this morning we will be heading to up to the hospital for her MIBG scan. After that we will be doing a switcharoo to the CT scanner. That will complete our morning of scans. Depending on the timing, Sydney may or may not be heading back to school.
I, as you would suspect, will be heading to a dark quiet corner to nervously chew my nails.
And wait...
And pray...
With purpose!
Thursday, April 16, 2009
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