Pet Scan surprise...

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RainyGayle
RainyGayle Member Posts: 5
edited June 2014 in Life After Breast Cancer
Pet Scan surprise...
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  • RainyGayle
    RainyGayle Member Posts: 5
    edited September 2007

    I'm about 2 and a half years out.... I had Lobular breast cancer - 1 positive node - mastectomy (right) - reconstruction and chemo in 2005.

    I had a Pet/CT scan this week. (As a side note...Much more comfortable test than the original Pet Scan a few years ago. More open machine. Much more comfortable, for someone like me who is claustrophobic)

    Of course, all I hoped for was a clear scan. Which I got.

    almost.

    It seems they found something. Something that doesn't belong. Something left behind? Yeah. Some sort of thin metal was found in my chest. (I'd had a port-a-cath placed and removed in 2005...must've been from that?) My doc's office called to tell me of the results and told me to go back to the radiology center immediately for chest x-rays so that the radiologist could compare the x-ray to the scans.

    My doctor called me after he spoke to the radiologist. This very thin, very hidden piece of wire is in my pulmonary artery!

    I'm going for an angiogram in this week so they can determine the position and condition of this thing in my body. I'm quite certain surgery will follow. Apparently it's a delicate surgery and it will take place at a huge hospital far from my familiar surroundings.

    I'm so relieved that, at this point, I'm with NED. But now this? Possible heart surgery? Because of a mistake? I don't know what to think. I love my surgeon. She was a huge source of encouragement and support during those difficult days. Did she mess up? I'm so confused.

    I'm just keeping busy and trying to just breathe until I have my next tests and find out the whole scoop....

    Not really asking for advice. I just needed to vent.

    thanks.

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  • nosurrender
    nosurrender Member Posts: 2,019
    edited September 2007

    Wow! That must have been a shock!

    I know of two women who had part of their ports break and the docs had to go in and remove the left over parts. I cannot recall, but I think it is done in the cath lab.

    I am sending you lots of good vibes and hope that everything goes smoothly! 

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  • nosurrender
    nosurrender Member Posts: 2,019
    edited September 2007

    Wow! That must have been a shock!

    I know of two women who had part of their ports break and the docs had to go in and remove the left over parts. I cannot recall, but I think it is done in the cath lab.

    I am sending you lots of good vibes and hope that everything goes smoothly! 

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  • LuAnnH
    LuAnnH Member Posts: 8,847
    edited September 2007

    It is stressful enough when you have those scans.  Honestly though, I have heard of things like this happening.  There is one woman who had part of her port get lodged very close to her heart.  She is doing fine now and actually has a new port in since that incident.  Your onc was very prompt in being sure you got further testing.  I hope all goes well and that metal is removed quickly.

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  • NoH8
    NoH8 Member Posts: 2,726
    edited September 2007

    Thank goodness they found it before it had a chance to do major damage!

    Though this isn't nearly as serious, my breast surgeon left a clamp in my breast the first time I had a lumpectomy and it stayed there for 14 years, unknowingly until my breast cancer. At first they described it as a "foreign object" which made me laugh and brought to mind all sorts of alien things.

    Not so funny was when the same surgeon was on call and did stomach surgery on my friend's mom and left a several inch wide towel in her and it almost killed her. She's still recovering and there's a big lawsuit going on.

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  • JoanofArdmore
    JoanofArdmore Member Posts: 1,012
    edited September 2007

    RainyGayle, a sister here at the site, RobinTN, DID have her port-o-cath migrate.The tube from it wound up in her juglar vein, I think.Yes she had to have heart surgery to remove it.(It was OK).

    I dont blame you for venting.Cancer is scarey enough, and traumatic.Treatment is bad enough.Heart surgery--such a damn shame!But it WILL be OK (And when they identify this errant piece of metal, there might be lots of $ for you, from a lawsuit!)

    On another tangent, I kept my port-a-cath, when it was removed.

    There arent any pieces of metal involved.It's totally made of high-tech plastic.

    Well I never took the TUBING apart.The OUTSIDE is of high-tech plasic.(But if there was an inner layer, there'd not be room for the chemo IV!The tube is VERY small in diam.)

    Maybe it is from something else.A piece of a clamp or etc, from surgery.That would be nice, just because we dont want to imagine our ports disintegrating and sending scrap metal all around our bodies.

    Again, I dont blame you for venting.

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  • Shirlann
    Shirlann Member Posts: 3,302
    edited September 2007

    Well, if you are of this persuasion, you will never have to work again! Not funny, but true.



    What you decide to do is up to you, of course, and depends on so many things. But I couldn't resist this thought.



    Hope that this left over thing can be safely brought out, it is not in a place where you want foreign objects!



    Hugs, Shirlann

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  • fire
    fire Member Posts: 153
    edited September 2007

    RainyGaily, I wish you to get rid of this asap and be healthy and happy.

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  • RainyGayle
    RainyGayle Member Posts: 5
    edited September 2007

    Thank you for your comments, ladies.

    I have an appointment with a specialist (a cardiothoracic surgeon) in about 10 days.

    *scary*

    At this point, the radiologists and my PCP are guessing that the guide wire that was used when inserting my port broke free during insertion. It's taken on a V shape and is lodged in my pulmonary artery.

    great.

    The big #1 No-No when you have metal in your body is MRI. Well, I had an MRI last year! Who knows what could have happened?! It's probably what moved the wire and caused it to bend. (Another theory, but a good one I think!)

    I have LOTS of questions and I'm sure I'll get them answered at this consultation.

    gah!

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  • NoH8
    NoH8 Member Posts: 2,726
    edited September 2007

    Having the metal inside of you for the MRI was probably much more dangerous to the MRI machine than it was to you. That and because metal can cause a false positive are the reasons they don't want us having metal during the test.

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  • Fitztwins
    Fitztwins Member Posts: 7,969
    edited September 2007

    Wow, what a trip. I guess the good news is that they found it before it did any trouble!!

    J

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