Since I have finally weaned Josephine, I was able to schedule my sestambi scan on my neck. It’s a nuclear scan, and you’re not suppose to have this done if pregnant or breastfeeding. So I postponed this scan for almost two years. Finally, Jo is completely weaned. I was able to get my scan done today.
If you don’t know why I I had this scan, read this post about my hyperparathyroidism.
They injected a radioactive tracer in my vein first. This is to better detect the abnormal tissue in my body. The radioactive material is the reason why I had to wait until after I finished breastfeeding because it would have gone into my breastmilk.
Then, I had to lay in a CT scanner for 30 minutes. I had to lie very still. After that, I was able to get up and walk around for a while. I needed to be scanned again, but had to wait for about 40 minutes while the nuclear medicine was leaving my system. The overactive glands hold onto the radioactive stuff, and again should be detected during the second scan.
So again, I laid their for about 30 minutes as the camera slowly did one full rotation around my body. I looked at the images afterwards. Nothing was lit up in my neck area. So the abnormal parathyroid gland was not detected.
My endocrinologist and also a surgeon both looked at my neck via ultrasound. Both times they saw the tumor in my neck. Sestamibi scans are negative half the time. My endocrinologist will probably want me to get a spect-ct scan next. It’s a radioactive injection along with contrast dye. It’s suppose to be a little more thorough. There’s still a chance that will not show the tumor either.
One interesting thing that happened after my scan… I got to see the full rotation of my body. It was pretty cool to see that. I asked if I could take a video of it and he said yes.
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