PET scan

ready to get anesthesia

Talking about what is going to happen

Today was Link's PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scan. To know more about the scan, click HERE. Basically, they bring him to the PET scan room (we walked him down - he was asleep in my arms :), give him general anesthesia (they put the mask on him while he was still in my arms. I had to move my head so I wouldn't inhale & go under as well!), then they give him 18 fluorodopa (a nuclear medicine - radioactive) & put him through 2 different scanners. The medicine goes through his body & to his pancreas & lights up any areas of focal lesions on his pancreas. We had to leave once they administered the general anesthesia. It was a long 2 hours of waiting till we could come & get him & help bring him back to our room. We passed the time by getting a bite to eat & checking out the Ben & Jerry's across the street :)  He did pretty well. I think the breathing tube they put in irritated his throat, but other than that, he did just great. 

Then, we waited to find out the results of the scan...

Sometimes waiting is the hardest...

Dr. Palladino just stopped by & verified that it does look FOCAL (yes!) and that it looks to be in the body of the pancreas (double-yes!!) What that means to us is that Dr. Adzick should only need to remove the smaller part of Link's pancreas. Because it doesn't look to be in the head of his pancreas, he shouldn't have to have his bowels "re-routed," which is great & also means his recovery should be quicker. 

So, now, we wait for surgery on Friday. More waiting! But we are so very thankful for this news! 

We are enjoying spending time with our baby boy. This morning (NO LIE - & Jason will back me up on this), he was wide awake & smiled - three times!! Of course, catching his smiles on camera are a bit tricky, but he REALLY did smile & it brought such a smile to MY face as well!  

Before the scan

Hangin' with dad