Full-body C-Scans: not all they're cracked up to be

I was reading my new issue of Consumer Reports when I came across this very interesting item:

"Your doctor recommends a “whole-body” CT scan

"Those scans are often touted as a way to detect early signs of cancer and heart disease. But most scans—and up to 80 percent in older people—have at least one abnormality that shows up on the exam. Almost all of the abnormalities are harmless, yet about one-third of patients are referred to follow-up imaging, according to a 2013 study. And whole-body CT scans expose you to much more radiation than regular CT scans. One study determined that for every 1,250 45-year-old adults who have the exam, one will die of cancer as a result. Yet it’s unknown how many lives the scans might save."

One 45-year-old person will die of cancer as a result of a whole-body CT scan! That’s shocking -- but not totally surprising. CTs are utilize powerful radiation technology to investigate the tissues of the body layer by layer; whole-body CTs expose the whole body.

I’ve had a lot of x-rays due to a congenital hip condition, so I’m extremely leery of all medical uses of radiation technology; but CTs are prescribed so often, I’ve even had a couple of them. But I haven’t had a full body scan. However, less than a year ago I was told I must have one.

In New Mexico, I went to see a specialist about a small lesion that had begun to distort the vision in my right eye. Dr. Seligson, the opthamologist I had seen in Santa Fe, thought I had TB, but he insisted that I must see Dr. Shelley Lee at the University of New Mexico Eye Clinic in Albuquerque, to confirm his diagnosis. She is a specialist in uveitis, inflammation of the eye.

Dr. Lee was a youthful, slender woman with a narrow intelligent face framed by straight black hair. She worked late and appeared to be very dedicated to her clients. I liked her at once.

In the grey examining room lit only by the glare from a large computer screen, she showed me vastly enlarged images of the choroid of my eyes. (According to the web site of the National Institutes of Health, “the choroid is the layer of blood vessels and connective tissue between the sclera (white of the eye) and retina. It is part of the uvea and supplies nutrients to the inner parts of the eye.”) Both images were green from the dye that had been shot into my veins an hour earlier. Here was the healthy eye. Here was the sick one, covered with brown spots. It looked pretty creepy.

Dr. Lee looked me over carefully, a woman of advanced years, unaccompanied, intelligent, who did not appear to be terrified, and said, "I think you have cancer and it has metastasized to your eye."

Just like that.

In three weeks, I was moving to California. I had great plans for this move, but I was also very anxious. Now I had cancer!  Should I even go? or just curl up and prepare to die?

Dr. Lee ordered several blood tests, an MRI of the head and neck and a whole-body CT scan. She urged me to complete the tests before leaving because there might be delays in California while I established care.

I tried my best, but the two scans were scheduled just a few days before my departure and I was becoming exhausted. I did the MRI, but the night before the CT I was supposed to drink two liters of fluid that I supposed might have something to do with emptying my bowels . . . and I just wasn't up for it. I postponed the test.

Once in Sonoma, I learned that the small local hospital did not have the right machine for the whole-body scan. I could go to another hospital if I wished, but my doctor and the radiologist thought that the three regular scans would be sufficient; the brain scan would not be included but the MRI had been negative. Another study of the brain didn’t seem necessary.

So I was spared. The three CTs took five minutes; the whole-body version would have been an hour long. That is a lot of exposure.

They were all completely normal.

Unless something is lurking in the folds of my stomach lining, or some other equally obscure place, I am still "good to go."

Something might have shown up in the full-body scan, but that can lead to new problems. These powerful diagnostic tools sometimes reveal mysterious abnormalities that may or may not indicate a serious condition; then doctors order another CT "just to make sure."

That can be the beginning of cancer where none existed! According to Consumer Reports, a 2013 Australian study had shown that people who undergo whole-body scans have a 24 percent higher chance of developing cancer.

I’m glad Dr. Lee was wrong, but I’m very concerned about the way she presented her diagnosis. Cancer is greatly influenced by one’s state of mind, and for several days after seeing Dr. Lee, I was already succumbing to it.

Be careful before you have that whole-body CT!