We were scheduled to drive to Dartmouth Hitchcock for Tim’s PET scan yesterday. Then New Hampshire rolled out freezing rain and the kind of winter warning that turns a simple appointment into a risk assessment.
So we rescheduled.
Tim wrote this in the gap between “not today” and “soon.” It’s funny, blunt, and very Tim, which is exactly the point. A PET scan is one diagnostic tool, not a verdict. It can add information, but it doesn’t get to rewrite who a person is.
Over to him.
Cheers! Vanessa
Having my head examined 12/30/2025 by Tim
We missed my PET scan yesterday because of a winter weather alert that convinced Vanessa and I we were probably going to die if we went anywhere outdoors. So we didn’t, but it was a day that socked us in with freezing temps, freezing rain and frozen ambitions. My exam was to be held at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, a good hour and a half drive from home on a good day.
I was glad my appointment could be rescheduled for a later date, but not glad to be having the procedure. A PET Scan tells neurologists if your head is carrying around any of those sticky blobs called lipids that gum up the cranium. It is currently our best test for the presence of Alzheimer's, at least until they find a better one. That’s what makes me uneasy about it. Do I really want to know?
The reason I’m not thrilled to have my PET scanned is two fold: One, if I test positive, then I know I’m gonna die of this nasty unstoppable demon in my brain. But two, isn’t it even worse if I DON’T have it, and all these dementia look-alike symptoms I have are there because I’m just another idiot who can’t recall things like who plays the Jets next Sunday (who really cares anyway) or how to get to the other side of Lake Winnipesaukee or even how to spell it.
My test has now been rescheduled, and I shall go, weather permitting.
*** If you’re supporting someone through testing, here are three sentences you can borrow:
“We’re getting information. We’re not declaring a future.”
“We do the next right step, then we stop.”
“You are still you. The test doesn’t get a vote in that.”
