What do you mean NO BREAD??

So. Ever had a PET scan? There are a lot of rules. Here's some highlights:

1.) Please be on time for your appointment. (really? people show up late? What's wrong with people?)

2.) Nothing to eat or drink (except water) 6 hours prior to the test.

3.) Please be well hydrated with water on the day of your test.

4.) No candy or chewing gum on the day of the test.

5.) Wear warm, comfortable clothing: no zippers, metal buttons, underwires, etc

6.) ABSOLUTELY NO METAL ON CLOTHING. (yes, it's in caps on my sheet)

7.) DO NOT WEAR METAL JEWLERY (typo not mine, man)

8.) No exercise, vigorous activity, or chewing gum 24 hours prior to the test (hmmmm...what do they mean by vigorous activity? aahahahahahaha)

9.) Please do not eat complex carbohydrates such as pasta, potatoes, rice, cereal, or bread 2 days prior to your appointment.

WHAT?? What are you talking about?? What am I supposed to eat?????

No worries, no freak outs here. Don't get me wrong, I can eat bread, I love bread. One of my staples is peanut butter toast. We regularly have some sort of grain or pasta with our meals. It's not a huge stretch though for me to cut those things out for a few days. I'm gobbling up roasted squash, homemade refried beans, and this delicious veggie soup Aunt Karen dropped off tonight.

I could see this being a real stretch for a lot of people however. Eric did some googling and discovered that the sugars and insulin from carbs will mess with the effectiveness of the scan. For a complete explanation, feel free to hassle Eric over email or on facebook. Or, you know, we do encourage self sufficency. Feel free to do your own googling too. ;)

I've been thinking a lot about these tests and chemo and radiation, and wondering how the heck people decided to try all this in the first place. Who would think to radioactivate someone to see cancer cells? I just think that's so weird. How do you come up with an idea like that?

The down side of being a no carb vegan for a few days? There was not much to choose from at the restaurant where we ate breakfast this morning. This is totally NOT the restaurant's fault. The waitress was helpful (and appropriately apologetic), but the best she could do was canned peaches and pears. I could have had a salad, but that's not breakfast food, yo. So for the next couple days I'll be huddled around my hot bowls of soup, roasting veggies, and I will probably feel very healthy because of it. Veggies are good for you, and don't you forget it!

(And just so I don't completely scare anyone, meat and dairy are fair game as part of your PET scan eating plan, if you're into that sort of thing.)