MUGA Scan

So far the easiest thing I have had to do in my battle to beat breast cancer is have the MUGA Scan. MUGA stands for Multiple Gated Acquisition. What this test does is measure the ejection fraction of the left ventricle. Accurately. It was like they took a moving picture of my heart as the left ventricle pumped out the blood to the rest of my body. The left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) is an excellent measure of overall cardiac function. The ejection fraction is simply the proportion of blood that is expelled from the ventricle with each heart beat. So, for instance, if the left ventricle ejects 60% of its blood volume with each beat, the LVEF is 0.6. (A normal LVEF is 0.5 or greater.)

It was a long test, which was fine as it allowed me to nap. And I really needed that nap yesterday.

This test was needed and will be performed 4 or 5 more times over the next year because the Herceptin I need to take to kill any stray HER2+ cells left in my body after the b/l mastectomy can be toxic to my heart. Also, one of the two chemo cocktails I will end up taking would also be toxic to the heart muscles. So yesterday’s MUGA scan was the baseline scan, the rest will be to monitor. And while I really don’t like the idea of damaging my heart, it is a risk I will take. And maybe in 15 or so cancer free years I will have troubles with my heart. But the benefits of the Herceptin and the chemo cocktail outweigh the risk factors. Besides, my heart is fine. I asked the technician to tell me if she saw that my heart was broken, or if there was a chunk of lead in there and she assured me it is fine. I will find out soon enough what my EF is. I could probably call my oncologist today for those results. And knowing me, I will call him.

So anyway, what they did was inject something called PYP into the vein of my left arm. PYP would then go and attach itself to my red blood cells (RBC). And then I waited 30 minutes. After 30 minutes they injected a radioactive die called TcOu (Technetium 99) into a vein on my right arm (so glad I have good veins or they would have had to insert an IV) which then connected to the PYP that had attached itself to the RBC and lit it all up. So….RBC>PYP>TcOu.

And then I laid down for approx 30 minutes and napped while a scanner moved above me to take moving pictures of my heart at work. Pretty cool, huh? If I could have seen those pictures being taken I wouldn’t have napped. But the monitor was behind me, so I napped.

Yay!! I napped.

And I slept well last night. I do love the Ativan. And this morning I will have breakfast with Pam. A weekly date we have had for the past school year that we have skipped for a few weeks.

Breakfast with Pam=normal