raig daniels
No evidence of active cancer.
The scan showed no signs of recurrence or spread. Even better, areas around my liver and peritoneum that had previously shown activity have regressed. The official conclusion: a "favorable (apparently complete) metabolic response to therapy."
In plain English — the chemo is working. There is no active disease showing up on imaging. That's about as strong a result as I could have hoped for.
What Did Show Up
While there's no cancer activity on the scan, it did pick up several areas of inflammation — in my left collarbone joint, breastbone, neck, spine, ribs, and right hip, along with some diffuse activity in my right thyroid.This lines up with what I've been feeling physically: persistent pain in my clavicle, shoulder, and spine.
There was also one new structural finding — a small area of tissue density in my right lung. Importantly, it showed no metabolic activity, which makes infection or inflammation far more likely than anything cancer-related.
The short version: cancer activity — not seen. Inflammation — very much present.
What It Means
The chemo appears to have done its job. That's the objective finding. At the same time, my body is clearly inflamed — whether from treatment, wear and tear, immune response, or something else that still needs to be sorted out.PET scans are powerful, but they show metabolic activity — not every microscopic detail. Based on this imaging, though, there is no visible active cancer.
What's Next
Tomorrow I go in for a CT and MRI. Where the PET scan looks at metabolic activity, CT and MRI look at structure and tissue detail. The goal is to confirm structurally what the PET is suggesting metabolically.In the meantime, I've been prescribed Prednisone to help manage the inflammation. Hopefully that brings some relief from the pain I've been dealing with while we wait on the next round of results.
If both align, the conversation shifts into a different phase entirely.
One scan says no active cancer. Now we verify it from every angle. More to come.
