Accuracy Follow Up & Rice Crispies

Hi Sue, I haven't had bone scan but do have rice krispies joints... snap crackle pop!

especially in my ankles and feet, going downstairs to do laundry can get noisy :-)

Hi 37Antiques - your "Rice Crispies" comment made me laugh out loud!  YES - that's a perfect description of me too!  It sounds so much better than "chicken gristle" that I usually use to describe it, ugh!

Here's a site I've found useful to help understand the various imaging scans:

http://www.virrad.com/public/diff_type_scans.html 

Also, I found a lot of helpful information on Wikipedia:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone_scan

From my understanding, a bone scan shows the density of the bones, so it can detect normal bone density, hyper-dense lesions (ex. previous fracture site healing), and hypo-dense areas.  It sounds like maybe you're concerned about bone mets?  A bone scan would show areas suspicious for mets, which can be osteolytic (loss of bone, or the "swiss cheese" effect) or osteoblastic (extra bone deposits).

I think the next diagnostic step depends on exactly specifically what is found, and all the various scans have their pros and cons.  I'm currently undergoing a workup for some hip symptoms, so I've been doing a lot of reading about all this too!  The PET scan is particularly looking for metabolic activity, whereas the bone scan and CT are looking more at the anatomical structures themselves, which is why a lot of PETs are actually combined PET/CT, so they can correlate the metabolic activity with the anatomic location.

I wonder why my snap-crackle-pop is worse now too, post-treatment, but they've ruled out arthritis with me too!  Hopefully the rice crispie syndrome is all it is - I'm good with that, LOL!

oddly, the word for the rice krispie noise is crepitus.. 

I've had bad knees for years due to biking, gymnastics and such.  if there is no bone deterioration, one can manage it kind of, with diet, (maybe rice krispies help),  adequate liquid, etc.  In itself, the noise is harmless.. just a sound.  Maybe all this cancer treatment has helped... or maybe it is the lessened stress and few stairs.  anyway, my knees sound a lot better than they used to.

Hi 37 antiques,    I do have the Rice Krispie noise in my bones too...I noticed you are from Red Creek, I grew up there.  Still have family up there !! Send me a PM if you would like to chat..Cathy