PET Scan

Noun:

A positron emission tomography (PET) scan is an imaging test that uses radioactive material to diagnose a variety of diseases such as tumours, heart disease and brain disorders. A PET scan shows how the body is working, unlike other scans, which only show its structure.

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The process of having a PET scan is much like an MRI.  The difference being that you have to fast before it, and they inject you with some radioactive jollop before starting the procedure.

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That in itself is slightly terrifying.  I don’t know if this is how it works in all cases, but I was taken down into the basement, put in a room with a vault-like door and fitted with a cannular.  The nurse then plugged in the Spiderman Serum, backed out of the room and closed the vault door!  Apparently this is to stop the medical professionals from being exposed to the radioactivity.  (It’s OK for it to be inside your body though…..).

You have to wait about an hour for the stuff to work with your body, and then you go in the scanner.

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The funny thing was that I had to travel into London for my PET scan, and I went on the tube.  After the scan they told me I wasn’t to go near my kids, or anyone who might be pregnant or vulnerable.  Have they ever been on the Central Line?  I felt like I must have been visibly glowing with radiation all the way home.