New PET scan warning -- to stay warm?

TarheelMichelle

I had my quarterly PET scan yesterday. As I glanced through the information sheet prior to the procedure, I noticed a new warning about staying warm: "It is important that you stay warm the day before and the day of your scan. This prevents a special type of fat from becoming active, which can make it hard for your radiologist to read your scan."

I'm going to ask my MO about it tomorrow. Just curious about whether anyone else has been warned?

AmyQ

Very interesting. This may explain why the tech's always offer and I always accept a heated blanket during the hour long wait after the injection, although they have not advised of the need to be warm prior to checking in.

Thanks for sharing. I wonder if we will see more of this.

Amy

Tina2

Hmm. Interesting. I've been getting scans for years and have never seen such instructions. It's odd that you were given this information after you had already arrived at the facility. I also find the instructions ironic, given that scanning devices are customarily kept in very cool environments. That's why patients are usually provided with blankets.

Tina

Iwrite

Interesting information although I didn't see anything about this before my PET scan last week.

I discovered that I was warm and my head stayed still without difficulty by wearing my knit hat during the test (along with the heated blanket).

pajim

News to me. I have scans scheduled for a month from now -- will report back. I'm used to the "don't exercise, no eating for 6 hours".

This must be about "brown fat" but no one knows much about brown fat.

Fitztwins

New to me, and I live in Michigan.

Lynnwood1960

I think it's about brown fat too. I never heard of it but it was mentioned in my scan report and also noted that I was shivering during the scan. I've never been instructed about keeping warm either

sharethehope

Ladies Never heard of keeping warm. Always so cold at these places & they don't always have blankets outside the scan area, but I will now make sure I get one while waiting the hr. Having scan in weeks & will ask them & my onc when I see him. He probably never heard of it. Looking in to change onc as this one doesn't seem interested in being of help. Just doesn't seem up on latest BC news. April

Sherriw

Maybe it's new guidance? My first pet was about six months ago, but I'm instructed to avoid exercise and stay warm 48 hours prior to the scan. They also keep me wrapped in warm blankets during

Heidihill

I haven't been warned but I have been told I have a lot of brown fat and the radiologist has pointed it out to me on the computer. I always shiver in the machine and go to scans by bike even in the middle of winter. Exercise and cold activate brown fat. I don't know how they differentiate brown fat from cancer but maybe brown fat tends to accumulate in certain places and radiologists play a probability game?

zarovka

Very interesting. My facility is freezing even in the prep room. They don't appear to be aware of this. will bring my own space heater next time, I guess.

Thank you,

>Z<

JFL

I haven't been instructed of this but also receive tons of warmed blankets when I wait to get scan and during scan. Very interesting . . . .

exbrnxgrl

I've never heard this warning either. My facility does give me lots of warm blankets. I almost always have a cozy nap after the nuclear injection.

ShetlandPony

Yes, I keep trying to remember to take my eye mask for added nap quality.

The only thing my PET instructions say about staying warm is to wear warm clothing. But I have known for a long time that I am supposed to avoid getting chilled. I can't remember if a nurse or tech told me that, or if I read it during online research. What I did not know, and learned from Michelle's post above, was that this needs to begin the day before. About brown fat, I remember one of my PET reports mentioned that. I just skimmed my a collection of about twelve reports but I could not find the comment. I wanted to see if it was from a day with particularly cold weather.

Another thing that I learned about PET scans is that timing is important. One time I was late getting there after my labs. The tech was about to inject the radioactive tracer -- he seemed to be in a hurry -- when he muttered a comment that made me say, "Whoa, are you saying that my scan results may or may not be accurate because I am late?" He explained that yes, they order the tracer for a particular patient and a particular time. There is radioactive decay happening, so timing is important. I was on the borderline. I told him and the nurse that I would rather come back than have a scan with results that could be less trustworthy. So I went home scanless that day.

If the medical people explain things, we can be more intelligent participants in our care.

Tina2

ShetlandPony, so true. Clear communication by the medical profession is usually not a priority, although it would be to everyone's benefit.

Tina

Moissy

Coincidentally, this topic came up during my scan today. The tech said that if a patient is cold and shivering, more of the glucose used in the test may go to those "brown fat" cells first that are trying to keep you warm...causing them to have higher SUV uptake measurement...which can possibly add an additional challenge in interpreting the scan since the goal is for any active cancer cells to be the first ones to take up the glucose. (my layman's translation). He said radiologists are familiar with it though, so they figure it out. I didn't receive any special instruction beforehand about staying warm. Next time, long underwear maybe!

ShetlandPony

Thank you for that explanation, Moissy. Heidi, does the radiologist know that you bike to your scan appointment?

Heidihill

Shetland, no, he probably doesn't, although my onc knows and he gets the reports which do include remarks on active brown fat. Actually on my most recent scan they even skipped the glucose/contrast. I think they are just looking for new masses. They know my body inside and out after 9 years of scanning it. Heh heh. I'm relieved not to have to take that stuff again.  

sharethehope

Tarheel

Had a scan today & when the nurse asked if I wanted a warm blanket I brought up the topic of brown fat. She had never hear of the need for warmth but said she was going to make sure she offered everyone a blanket. She was interested in our site also. So you have help others to be educated also. Thanks

zarovka

Apparently exercise and caffeine can also significantly increase SUV uptake in PET scans. This is an old study, but I stumbled across it and thought of this group.

For me it reason number 123 to maintain a healthy distrust of scan results, especially if the scan is only showing a change in the SUV uptake of existing mets. Everything from the time you start the IV to whether you biked to the appointment will effect the SUV uptake.

>Z<

ShetlandPony

I always eat the same meals the day before at the same times, walk slowly from the parking lot, and do the same things while waiting, in an effort to keep things consistent.

zarovka

Shetland - good luck on your upcoming scans. You are in my thoughts... hoping for something that will tip the balance to stable.

>Z<

jobur

I thought of this thread while walking in 20F weather to the semi-trailer for my PET/CT. It can accommodate 2 people, and they open a door large enough to get a wheelchair through when the next patient arrives. Maybe that is why I never heard this warning here in Wisconsin. (-:

pajim

I had promised to report back on this. Had my PET on Tuesday. No mention of staying warm. In fact, I was freezing because the room where I waited for the hour was cold.

They do give out warm blankets but they didn't last long. The nap did. :-) Heaven only knows what the techs thought of my snoring.

TarheelMichelle

pajim, I wake myself up with my own snoring during the PET scan. It's so cold, so I ask for double blankets, plus blankets tucked around my arms (which are raised over my head). I guess it's a good thing we can relax.

GracieM2007

ok, so checked yesterday after I had been told that all dairy was off limits 24 hrs before a scan. Turns out that was false and we can still have hardcheese or even sliced cheese as long as it's in moderation.

Goincrzy8

When I had my pet scan they told me HIGH protien diet the day before. Meat, cheese, vegetables, leafy vegies, no milk, no caffiene. Basically atkins,no gum, candy, mints. No yogurt or milk.

SusanR

Having my first PET next week and the instructions given were no exercise for 24 hours prior to the scan and I am to valet park and have someone take me up in a wheelchair. Also nothing to eat or drink for 6 hours prior.

This is all fascinating!

Kessala

SusanR, I've had multiple PET scans over the past eleven years of dealing with mets. My most recent PET scan was done last week.

NEVER in all that time have I EVER been told I shouldn't walk into the clinic from my car or be wheeled into the Imaging Department via wheelchair! That's so silly it's laughable!

By requesting you not to exercise during the 24 hours prior to your PET scan they mean don't go to the gym, don't run a race, don't overdo vacuuming or floor scrubbing. Live your normal life, walk your dog down the block and back, prepare supper for your other family members, clean up the kitchen afterwards. But to skip the walk from the parking lot and be wheeled into the scanning room is such nonsense.

I'd love to have been given those instructions by a well-meaning but obviously new medical worker. I would have laughed in their face!

Other than the over-zealous instructions you've been given I think you'll find having a PET scan is mostly boring. I usually doze off before the scan and during the scan. You won't feel sick, the radioactive glucose injection doesn't make you feel any different. It's an easy-peasy procedure. It certainly doesn't require you to act like a mannequin prior to the scan.

Kessala

MinusTwo

Yes, a PET/CT is easy, but it picks up any activity in the cells. Just simply - movement burns sugar and that sparks a response. I was not asked to take a wheel chair either, but I did restrict my movements & my diet the 24 hours before. Once the nuclear infusion is started, you will likely lie in a darkened room and be asked not to move at all. I was told that I couldn't even read a book since turning the page would be a repetitive activity. I think that was 30 minutes so the contract goes throughout your body.

Sorry for intruding on a Stage IV thread. I think this is an important topic & different nuclear centers give widely different instructions.

TarheelMichelle

I've been getting PET scans for 5 years at Sloan-Kettering. I've seen the recommendations go from coffee with cream is OK beforehand, to black coffee only to NOTHING but water. Not at Sloan-Kettering, but elsewhere, Now, I'm hearing of these physical activity limitations.

Do any of you think PET scans are not as perfect as we've been lead to believe? I've never doubted their accuracy before. But these increasingly stricter rules make me wonder exactly what is going on.

Susan, you've had breast cancer for 15 years and have NEVER had a PET scan? Have you had CT scans to track your progression? I'm a curious person, just wondering.