Bone Scan

October 2, 2005
My Journey with Cancer

Bone Scan

I have heard the words “bone scan” very often among cancer patients since I entered the world of Cancer. Every one of us seemed to be excited about this kind of test. Although, honestly, I had to ask, is it painful? How does it go? How long does it take? How do you feel when the result is bad? Finally, my turn came, after eight months since surgery.

Stately palm trees receded from the distance as the small sea craft, with a capacity of about 30 people left the island for Cebu. The sea green water danced with the sunlight. The sea was calm. But my heart and mind were miles away, wandering inside the Cebu Cancer Institute. I willed myself to focus on the present. I cannot waste today’s blessings because of tomorrow’s fear. But human as I am, I thought about the scan and its result, and fear, with its ugly face, smiled wickedly.
Once, my husband and I were inside the glass walls of the Cebu Cancer Institute, with all its modern facilities, and state-of-the-art technology, the smell of chemicals from the chemotherapy rooms brought shooting arrows into my forehead. But the effect was immediately softened by friendly and sympathetic smiles from the staff.
The purpose of the bone scan was to find out whether cancer has metastasized into my bones. The process took more no pain except for the needle works. The nurses were kind and gentle. Their hands, light as feathers did the work expertly, as they found the right vein. I don’t want to pretend that I know some medical terminologies, but what I was aware of was that I had radio-active elements inside my body, that would stay for about six hours. I was told to isolate myself from pregnant women and children for that number of hours.
Not bad. I was made to lie down on a sheet of cold metal, covered with soft fabric, as I was told gently that I should close my eyes, refrain from any movement and talking for the next forty minutes. I thought, that was a tall order. I could feel my heart beating hard against my ribcage, wanting to be free. My body was strapped securedly into the machine even as I told them with humor, that it was not necessary since I won’t try to escape. They smiled, and told me kindly that some movements may surprise me and that I had to keep still but everything will be fine.
Then the music played. The instrument sound was so soothing, that my and my body began to relax.
I found out that trying to keep still when you are told to do it is not an easy task. Forty minutes seemed eternity. But as the machine was moving above and under me, scanning every bit of my skeleton, so slowly, like a moon doing its orbit around the earth, I thought about Psalms 139:13-16 “ For you created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother’s womb, I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made, your works are wonderful… my frame was not hidden from you when I was made in a secret place, when I was wove n together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body…all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of the m came to be.”
This wonderful reality played in my mind, as the machine recorded every single bone I have. So I thought, if God had given me so much thought, He alone has a power to bring then result He wanted me to have. During this time, while my mind was focusing on those passages, and imploring His mercy, friends were praying for me, and their messages, brought me hope.
I was subjected to other tests afterwards, but these were routine tests and ultrasounds every month. My liver showed improvement, although it is still six times above the normal in sgpt. But I pray that the healing continues.
Our bodies amaze me. God has made us wonderfully our skeletal system is composed of 206 separate bones and some cartilages. Our skull has 22 bones.
In Rick Warren’s book “The Purpose Driven Life, he emphasized that all abilities come from God. And that studies show that an average person possesses from 500 to 700 different skills and abilities. Our minds can handle 15,000 decisions a second. Our brain can take in 100 trillion information while our nose can smell 10,000 various odors. Our touch can detect an item 1/25,000th of an inch thick. We are complex, highly organized, gifted with bundle of incredible abilities. Yet some of these gifts lay dormant, waiting to be discovered. We can use these talents to give glory back to the one who authored it. We are more special than apes. Yes, God took pleasure with us when He made us.
Finally all my results came in beautiful colors. My bone scan showed no metastases. I thank God for that. I felt so euphoric that even if my doctor told me that in my case, there is a high probability that there will be a recurrence of breast cancer within two years, and that I had to pray harder for the next one year and four months, I was not dismayed. But all these possibilities seem not to matter with my hope that God is sovereign. He is in control. He knows what He is doing. And no matter how long or how short He allows me to live, He knows what is best. Our time is perfectly synchronized with His clock.