Full Body PET Scan With Radioactive Tracer

Yesterday, I had a PET-CT scan with a tracer and while this type of scan is not unusual for me have every 6 months, it is unusual for me to a PET that is full body.  Usually, I am checked from groin to neck and the procedure is completed in 2-3 minutes; whereas,  a full body scan sends me through the machine very slowly and instead of 2-3 minutes, it is completed in 12-15 minutes.  I will have to ask the Oncologist at our next visit why I was give a full body.

A PET-CT scan is an imaging procedure that’s used to:

• See how the tissues and organs in your body are working.
• Find and diagnose many disorders, such as cancer.
• Plan radiation therapy.
• See how treatment is working.

Most PET scans are done to study your body’s use of glucose (a type of sugar). This is because cancer cells take in glucose faster than normal tissue. Because you get glucose from food and drinks, it’s important that you follow the dietary guidelines listed in the “The Day of Your PET-CT” section.

You’ll have a low dose CT scan done at the same time as your PET. CT scans take a fast series of x-ray pictures. The x-ray pictures are combined with your PET scan to create pictures of the soft tissues and bones in the area that was scanned.

You may also be scheduled for a diagnostic CT at the same time as your PET-CT. If you’re also having a diagnostic CT scan, ask your nurse for the resource Computed Tomography (CT) Scan.

Before this PET-CT, I was given an injection of  radioactive medication with glucose called a tracer. This was done to show differences between healthy tissue and diseased tissue. My PET-CT used fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) as the tracer. FDG is taken up by your cells and I am told that it doesn’t stay in the body long.