READING YOUR X-RAYS
An ultrasound of the lower abdomen will include both blad-
der and prostate for men and bladder and uterus plus ovaries for
women. The white area is the bladder. Beneath it is the roundish
prostate gland. If the prostate becomes enlarged, it pushes
against the bladder, indenting it with a “cookie bite” like ap-
pearance. The prostate gland should have a smooth external
edge and a homogeneous internal ap-
pearance. The radiologist calculates its
weight from its dimensions, often given
on the ultrasound. Pictures taken at dif-
ferent angles will give different lengths
and widths; such variations should be
taken into consideration.
A bone scan views all the bones in
your body, from the skull to your toes
in one small picture.
An injection of radioactive techne-
tium (an element) is given first, al-
lowed to find its way to the bones
(three hours) followed by imaging of
your radiating bones! The regions
where the technetium has accumulated
will show up as intensely white “hot
spots”. These hot spots are cancerous
bone lesions, to be distinguished by the
radiologist from mere “inflammatory”
or benign lesions.
You will be able to identify some
of the hot spots yourself by matching
them with your pain locations. You
will also see hot spots that are not yet
painful! Pain develops after these le-
sions become infected with bacteria.
Bone lesions of any kind, malignant,
benign, or inflammatory are soft areas,
showing that calcium is not being de-
posited as fast as it is being dissolved. Even after you correct