The role of imaging in the detection, identification, and treatment of cancer

In April, 2015, I was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma which is a blood cancer that attacks the lymph nodes. Having recently purchased a winter home in Clearwater, Florida, in early March, 2015, I did not have a doctor network established in Florida. After having lower abdominal pains for more than a week, I went to the emergency room (ER) at the local hospital. A CT scan was done of the lower abdomen, and I was told that my lymph nodes were enlarged. During the next five days in the hospital, I had three CT scans and a renal scan of the kidneys and urinary track. The third CT scan was used to guide a needle for a biopsy of an enlarged lymph node. Six days later my Oncologist informed me that I had Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Large B cell rapid growing type of cancer. Over the next six days I had a MUGA Scan of the heart and a PET scan of the whole body. Seventeen days after going to the ER I started my first Chemotherapy treatment.