PET scan at St Thomas

This weekend was our third in a row with visitors. This time it was Louise, Luca & Victoria from Switzerland. We hadn't seen them for 4 years, so there was quite a lot of catching up. We had a great lunch in the New Forest followed by a good long walk on Sunday. They all went off on Monday morning for a cruise on the Queen Victoria. For me, it's Monday, which is now a scan day. This time for a PET scan at St Thomas's in London. Here's some info about PET scans PET-CT scan: Cancer Research UK: CancerHelp UK .

I went off about 11 and I was there about 1. The PET centre is right in the bowels of the hospital, in amongst the kitchens and laundry. I was a bit early but they saw me straight away. They checked my height and weight. I got sat in a chair and they put a cannula in my arm while they asked me some questions (usual health stuff - I know the answers now). I then had to lie down while they put some of the radioactive stuff in my arm, didn’t seem very much and they took the cannula out straight away, so no pumping stuff in my arm during the scan. Then I had to lie down and relax for an hour and half, presumably to let it all spread evenly round the body. I wasn't allowed to read, but I could listen to some music. After that I put on a gown and went to the room with the machine. Like the CT machine it was a moving bed going into a tunnel. I went into the tunnel, then it just moved a bit and stopped for a few minutes. It repeated that quite a few times until I reached the other end. The whole thing took about 30 minutes. I was then free to leave, I was out before 4.00.

Afterwards I went round to meet up with Kathryn who’s working in London just across the river from the hospital. We went out to have a drink at a pub nearby, then we went to eat at Pizza Express. I was quite hungry as I hadn’t eaten since breakfast (couldn't eat before the scan). We hadn’t had a chance to spend some time together before, it was good just the two of us. We walked back to Waterloo together, Kathryn took the tube back home. I had to wait for the next train, but I was still home for 10:00.