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Writer's pictureTina Carter

Anxiety about Scans


The term "scanxiety" is used to describe the particular stress that occurs for cancerworld residents as they await the results of a scan. For many of us, it doesn't matter how far out from active treatment we are the thought of a bad scan collapsing the bridge we are standing on and throwing us back into cancerworld can be overwhelming.


Most of us, before entering cancerworld, have never hear the word "scanxiety." Once we hear it we almost immediately have a sense for that the word means.


There are a lot of resources to help us manage scanxiety. (Among them this article: https://www.survivornet.com/articles/strategies-for-dealing-with-scanxiety-dr-samantha-boardman/) For many of us though, just knowing that this is a "typical" feeling can help us remind ourselves that this is yet another thing that happens in cancerworld. Just knowing that what we are experiencing is "typical" for cancerworld can help us name it and take some of the power out of it.


The scan itself can be unpleasant and can bring its own kind of dread. Many people tolerate CT contrast and the fluid that they use for PET scans quite well. For others we may experience an unpleasant sensation when contrast is used. The Radiology tech will generally describe what the contrast typically feels like. If you experience something other than what they describe it is a great time to speak up as you may be experiencing a non-typical reaction that may need further intervention.


Some of us can actually "taste" the contrast. On top of all the tricks for managing scanxiety, you may also need to manage the dread you feel of the scan experience itself. I like to remind myself that, for me, the contrast is "vile but not lethal." Sometimes I sing the jeopardy song in my head to remind myself that the scan itself (at least for CT) does not last that long.


MRI's are a different creature and may carry their own dread or scanxiety with them. For those of us who are claustrophobic an MRI can be a challenge, although newer facilities may have "open" MRI's that are a lot less closed in. I have found that I often have to ask for a sedative of some kind to get me through the MRI without freaking out because I have a problem with closed in spaces. Another thing no one tells you is that you can ask, in an enclosed MRI, to have the fan turned off. That helps me because then there is no chance that hair is going to blow into my face without me having any way to remove it. Some facilities offer music options during MRI's which can take significantly longer than CT's. The point is, let your tech know your concerns, they may have a coping strategy that may not have occurred to you.


There may also be some anxiety associated with preparing for a scan. Particularly in preparing for a PET scan. Read your docs instructions carefully. For 48 hours before my PET I had to ensure that I did not get cold and eliminate sugar intake (both of those things can affect the PET results). For any scan, reading instructions and, if you have not received instructions, asking what you need to do to prepare is probably a good strategy.



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