All about Thursday's PET scan

For my two other PET scans I asked a couple of questions – enough to understand the basics. But this time I am a little more curious about how it all works. So, I did a little research and here is what I have found out:

PET stands for Positron Emission Tomography. A PET scan uses small amounts of radioactive materials called radiotracers, a special camera and a computer to help evaluate organ and tissue functions. A PET scan can identify body changes at the cellular level.

Positron emission tomography is a type of nuclear medicine imaging.

Nuclear medicine is a branch of medical imaging that uses small amounts of radioactive material to diagnose and determine the severity of a variety of diseases, including many types of cancers, heart disease, and other abnormalities within the body. Because nuclear medicine procedures are able to pinpoint molecular activity within the body, they offer the potential to identify disease in its earliest stages.

Nuclear medicine imaging procedures are noninvasive and, with the exception of intravenous injections, are usually painless medical tests.

Depending on the type of nuclear medicine exam, the radiotracers are either injected into the body, swallowed or inhaled as a gas and eventually accumulates in the organ or area of the body being examined. Radioactive emissions from the radiotracers are detected by a special camera or imaging device that produces pictures and provides molecular information,

A PET scan measures important body functions, such as blood flow, oxygen use, and sugar (glucose) metabolism. Cancers thrive on sugar and in a PET scan the injected glucose gathers in the cancerous spot and lights up.

This is a PET scan image, not mine, that shows a significant cancer in the chest. 

My PET scan is being done to determine whether my cancer has spread to other parts of my body or see if my lung cancer has returned after treatment.

Cancer is a complex disease and occurs when cells in the body begin to grow chaotically. Normally, cells grow, divide, and produce more cells to keep the body healthy and functioning properly. Sometimes, however, the process goes astray; cells keep dividing when new cells are not needed. The mass of extra cells forms a growth or tumor. The sooner the tumor is found, the better the survival rate and Pet scans are valuable tools in that endeavor.

My Pet scan is Thursday morning at 7:30. Cross your fingers for darkness; we want no pretty colored lights in this old body of mine!