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Hi folks, coming up will be my 5 yr anniversary checkup with the oncologist
for colo-rectal cancer.  I have been cancer free since 6/01.  I have no
complaints, am feeling wonderful except for minor celiac and other food
allergy problems, no pains in my bones, no odd symptoms.  All my previous
annual films are negative for cancer activity.  My oncologist is the
chairman of oncology of a very large and well respected hospital in downtown
Houston.  She usually does a CT scan of chest, abd, pelvis.  This time she's
ordered an MRI of abd, pelvis & a bone scan, which I am assuming the entire
body.  I fully understand why she is ordering these tests, however, after
googling bone scan last night I have some very serious misgivings about the
bone scan.  Firstly, I had low dose chemo and 6 weeks of radiation to treat
the initial cancer before they removed the tumor 5 years ago.  They gave me
?4500 RAD, which I understand was the maximum I can take in that area of my
body.  Frankly, the 6 months of chemo (5fu and leucovorin) was a breeze
compared to what the radiation did to me.  it almost killed me and I am not
exaggerating, that old saying sometimes the cure is worse than the disease
would apply here.

 

Anyway, from what I discern, they are going to inject me with a radionuclide
into my bloodstream, wait around 2-4 hours until it's all uptaked by my
bones and take pictures with a gamma camera which picks up radioactivity.  I
understand the dose of radiation is approx 200 normal xrays, which is what I
am most concerned about.  I know I will be urinating this stuff out and that
is radioactive, I will be asked to drink lots of water and it should take
approx 24 hrs to leave my body entirely.  All you radiologists and xray
techs out there, what would be your opinion of how this could possibly
affect me in the future (I am already fearful of leukemia from the radiation
15 or 20 years from now), if I let them do it, which radionuclide would be
preferable over others, and more importantly WHICH RADIONUCLIDE might cause
me a reaction - I am severely allergic to SULFUR  as in analphalytic (sic)
shock as well as have rather severe reactions to drugs like Demerol, all the
quinolones (like lexapro), not to mention intolerance to chemicals and
preservatives in food - I follow the SCD diet because I am so sensitive.
And also for that matter, what sort of risks am I taking from getting CT
scans?  What kind of radiation is that?  I usually have them without
contrast because 2 years ago I drank the contrast and it made me very ill,
like a gluten reaction.

 

I understand the docs are trying to catch an early met to the bones, and
this seems like the best method, but what about that dose of radiation when
I'm already maxed in the pelvic region?  And then if I let them do it at 5
years out, are they going to want to do this annually?  My tumor never
passed through the muscle layer of the colon, with the radiation before
surgery they were able to shrink it quite a bit and they said they were able
to remove the entire tumor and they also removed my ovaries at the same time
as a double precaution.  How likely is bone met in rectal ca?  probably
likely, huh.  I just want to make an informed decision - I am a retired
medical professional but I am not an MD.  

 

Also, has anyone out there had a bone scan and what was their experience.
They want to schedule this for early next week like Tuesday so I don't have
much time.  Thanks all your help.  [log in to unmask]

 

 

 

 

 


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