Article
The PET Scan Tick-Tock: Waiting for the News
Author(s):
A slow-motion ride with high-tech images.
Better late than never
Better early than late
Better prompt than early
So I just have to wait
Time changes rhythm
It goes fast and slow
What is the verdict?
Do I want to know?
My PET scans are lengthy
They go on forever
But the long night after
Is slower than never
My mind keeps spinning
The hour gets late
The nerves, the worries
The fears aggregate
The day’s little fragments
Feeling like a flashback
Playing back the same scenes
Can’t escape the sound track
So what did they mean?
Retake that one then
Another tumor
Inside me again?
Oh, I’m sorry 'bout thatThere’s one scan that’s blurrySo we'll try it again
Don’t worry ... don't worry.
Next day I find out
The scans are all clean
Due back in four months
I get past the screen
I’m elated of course
As the tensions subside
Yet the fear lingers on
In the dark, deep inside
There’s no evidence
That shows new disease
But abnormal cells
Could hide there with ease
Better late than never
Better early than late
Better prompt than early
Up ahead, the next gate
Author’s note: I have great respect for other patients, their families and clinicians, who cope with the presence or spread of cancer. I based this poem on a composite of my own personal experience thus far and nothing more. What has your experience been like?
