After almost 2 years, I finally feel ready to talk about this.
In 2024, I decided to do a proactive full-body scan with Prenuvo.
Like many health-conscious people, I believed more information would equal more certainty. Instead, it taught me something far more important: modern diagnostics often produce gray areas, not clear answers.
In June 2024 my scan identified an indeterminate finding on my spleen with a result of a spenule or a neuroendocrine tumor. In July 2024 I completed the follow-up MRI with contrast imaging expecting resolution. The report read: it could represent a harmless splenule or a neuroendocrine tumor. The exact same result. Nothing clearer nor was I provided with any resolution. Two vastly different realities. And not to mention that the only path that Prenuvo provided was “follow up with a contrast MRI with your GI doctor.” I was not provided additional conversations. Nothing. Just “see ya later.” And as an extremely “Crunchy” individual, I hated the idea of having contrast go through my veins. But, I did it for the sake of clarity. Clarity that never arrived. There were a lot of expenses on my end to land in a darker place than I started.
What followed wasn’t medical, it was psychological. When testing reveals a possibility without a probability, the mind fills in the gaps. I researched, monitored sensations, and mentally rehearsed outcomes that never materialized. I had data, but no decision path.
This is the hidden side of preventative testing: advanced imaging frequently detects incidental findings that medicine cannot definitively categorize. The result isn’t diagnosis, it’s prolonged uncertainty. And my experience felt so lonesome because no one could give me any answers and Prenuvo wouldn’t speak to me beyond the initial findings report. So, I was told “hey, this is what we found, go see your GI doc.” The MRI with contrast with my GI doc didn’t provide any further clarity. I had no one else to talk to or counsel me. Just left…abandoned by the system that was designed for clarity. I felt like I paid a lot of money to just bring stress into my life.
So…I threw myself into house projects, my Ingredient Gal business, going to concerts, reading more books than I have my entire life, literally any distraction I could find. All while still thinking of the worst.
Eventually I had to shift the question I was asking. I moved from “How do I prove I’m okay?” to “How do I support my health regardless?”
Instead of chasing certainty, I focused on controllables: sleep quality, nervous system regulation, nutrition, inflammation management, and consistent movement. The foundations of health remain beneficial whether a scan is clean or ambiguous. I will share, this inner work has been one of the biggest challenges I have faced because you’re in a battle with your own mind and with ambiguity.
But even after all of this, I still support proactive screening. For many people it provides peace of mind and early detection. But it’s important to enter with realistic expectations: more data does not always create clarity.
Here we are almost 2 years later and the finding hasn’t changed. More importantly, neither has my life, except my relationship with uncertainty.
Health is not built on eliminating every unknown. It’s built on daily behaviors that improve resilience in the presence of unknowns.
For those considering advanced screening: be prepared not only for answers, but for possibilities or even just gray answers. The technology is precise; biology is not. After all this time, I have made peace that I was born with this unique orientation of my spleen and pancreas that creates a “lump” where the two organs meet, but I had to come to that place all by myself and it took me almost 2 years. Sadly, I feel like I was robbed of peace of mind since summer 2024, not given peace of mind.
Question: Have you ever had a medical “maybe” or even a false positive? If so, how did you handle it? And has anyone been thinking of getting a preventative scan?