Aug 17, 2017
TRANSCRIPT
This is Episode 002 of Glioblast-O-Cast. What is scanxiety and what do I do about it?
Hello and welcome to Glioblast-O-Cast, the podcast about life beyond glioblastoma. I’m your host, Meg Turecek.
In this episode, I answer the question, what is scanxiety. And I’ll share my tactics in surviving and getting beyond the scanxiety.
What is scanxiety?
Simply put, it’s the gnawing feeling of worry leading up to an MRI appointment.
Depending on your healthcare system, I have learned that other GBM patients have regular MRI scans at either 2 month, 3 month or 6 month intervals to monitor the situation inside the brain.
Including my most recent MRI, I have had a total of 12 scans since this journey started.
Just after finishing radiation and chemo, I had a questionable scan and it appeared that maybe the glioblastoma had returned. So instead of every 3 months or 12 weeks, I had a scan every 6 weeks for 5 scan cycles.
It was certainly a scary and worrisome time. But I was fortunate to be in a healthcare system where I had my MRI appointment and then met with my neurologist only an hour later for the results on the same day.
But the days leading up to the scan are certainly overshadowed with worry and playing out scenario outcomes in my head. Because with a terminal illness, I think it’s natural to expect the bad news rather than good.
A recurrence might not have obvious symptoms. Other than my initial seizure, I really didn’t have symptoms to pinpoint a brain tumor to start. So a repeat tumor might not affect me right away.
That’s why we monitor with regular MRI scans. And those are scans are with contrast. That means halfway through the MRI session, the technicians roll you out of the tube and inject contrast dye, slide you back in the tube, and scan some more.
Some people are afraid of the MRI as it is very tight in the machine and can trigger claustrophobia for some.
My MRIs have a mirror system so I can look out the tube and see the technicians. They also give me a button to press if I am having an issue and need to come out. They give me ear plugs as the MRI machine is quite loud. Along with the ear plugs, they can play music.
But I prefer not to have any music. And I hope that all the buzzing of the machine puts me in a near trance-like situation for a little nap. It’s pretty painless.
But even with the past few scans being good and showing shrinkage, I still have a bit of scanxiety each time.
So here’s my little trick to make the scanxiety less consuming and overwhelming.
I change my focus.
I get myself a present for just getting in the MRI tube, not for the results.Instead of dreading scan day and thinking all those negative thoughts and worries, I think about my little reward.
And I try to find unique gifts for myself that are special and not something every day. I used my MRIs to justify getting my podcast equipment, getting a special medic alert bracelet, and a unique pen made from the old stadium seats at Wrigley Field.
I tell others it could be a night out at the movies or a favorite restaurant. Just something to chase away the scanxiety.
Thank you for listening. This has been Glioblast-O-Cast Episode 2.
Theme music for Episode 002: “Ukulele Happy Music” Alan Berlin.