On the science behind and impact of PET scan imaging.

They inject a radio-labeled glucose molecule, and it turns out that cancer cells have this attraction for glucose, so they eat up glucose. Cancer cells are continuing to grow, proliferate and divide, so they need energy and consume a lot of glucose. So that’s why they take up this glucose tracer. Then the patients go through the PET scanner and the area where the glucose has been taken up just lights up. And it turns out, it’s an exquisitely sensitive modality, or imaging technique, because it's able to pinpoint very small masses of cells all over your body. It tells you where all the cancer has spread in a patient.

On the uncertainty before test results.

I still remember going back to the car after the doctor’s appointment, and my husband was waiting and said, “You know she's just not eating. There's nothing wrong with her.” But at this point I think the mother’s instinct kicked in. I think all the mother’s listening in will identify because you know when there is something really wrong. You know when there’s a simple thing like a scrape and they just need a bandaid. But you know when something’s not right with your child.

On reaching out for emotional support as a caregiver.

In my case, I was a staff scientist at Stanford, and Stanford has a staff health center. You can book a session with a counselor to talk about anything. You can talk about work. You can talk about grief. So I made use of that because I felt like I needed to talk to someone. And it was hard to talk to my husband because we were both so emotional, and we would just break down talking to each other. So I had to reach out for help.