The PET Scan Diet
First you get diagnosed with cancer and then they take away your comfort food. Yeah yeah, I know it was only one day but seriously...if ever I've deserved to be shovelling cake into my mouth, it's now. On top of that, I'm a vegetarian which means preparing for a PET Scan is less than ideal.
It is recommended that on the day before your scan you eat a high protein, low carbohydrate, low sugar diet. No coffee. No tea. And over these past two weeks I have drunk a lot of coffee and tea. No alcohol. No dairy. No sugar or artificial sweeteners. Not even fruit. No starchy vegetables like potatoes, corn or carrots. No rice, pasta, bread, cereals, nuts or legumes. What's left?
It was eggs with salt and pepper for breakfast. We couldn't even add milk to make it an omelette. Lunch was a bowl of lettuce, sprouts, avocado and mushrooms and dinner was zucchini noodles coated in avocado and oil and topped with roasted cauliflower. Chef Chris was doing what he could with the list of about ten ingredients I was allowed to eat.
It was the Atkins Diet without even trying.
The morning of my scan Chris woke me at 5:30am so I could force another couple of eggs down my throat and after six hours of sipping water, it was time for the scan.
A lovely man put a cannula into the crease of my arm then led me into a tiny room with a TV, a few magazines and a recliner. He injected me with a radioactive liquid and told me I couldn't talk to anyone because it would affect my body's ability to spread the radioactive material evenly. Then, the door was shut and I was left alone. I couldn't help but feel like I was glowing a vibrant radioactive green colour and nobody wanted to be anywhere near me.
An hour later, after a quick empty of the bladder, I was laid on a table and had my cannula hooked up to a long, curly cord. I was told to lay still for about half an hour with my arms above my head, while they moved my table back and forth through a large doughnut-shaped machine. Half an hour of stillness allows the mind to wander. I never did master Savasana. Slowly but surely my thoughts got away from me, wandering dangerously through hypothetical scenarios of what the next few months of life may look like. I did my best to reign them back in each time they slipped through the cracks. Finally, they injected a contrast liquid into my arm which made me feel sickly hot and like I had just done the biggest wee of my life all over their fancy sliding table. Thankfully the lovely man from earlier had prepped me for this sensation. And then...it was over.
Before I knew it I was eating the most delicious toasted sandwich of my life and sipping tea as mum and Pete walked through the door. CT/PET Scan complete. Let the waiting continue. And the cake eating begin.
