Hi I was wondering can a ct scan tell if you have lung /liver Mets or do you have to have follow up scans to see if they grow ? I was told scans can give false positives was wondering if anyone heard of this or needed biopsy x x x
Hi Julzd,
I am sure some of our users will be along shortly to offer their support.
In the meantime do contact our support line at 0808 800 6000 who can offer a friendly ear and talk to you about scans.
Best wishes,
Lizzy
Digital Community Assistant
Hiya Julzd
i believe that ct scan can pick up lung and liver mets. The Reason being that when I have had scan results they have stated in the report something along the lines of - “the organs are all clear”- I have been lucky and have had no further spread in my bones and ‘shadows’ in my peritoneal area (abdomen) have gone away
i believe that if they can report that they are clear they should be able to report if they’re not clear.
hope this makes sense and is helpful…
xx
My lung and liver mets were picked up on ct scans.
Hi. I don’t often post. Primary diagnosed Dec 2013, I then had an MRI to give a more exact sizing to the slight thickening (have invasive lobular BC ER7 Her2 negative) the scan 'showed multiple liver lesions compatible with cysts. I then had a CT scan when ‘lesions were seen which are indeterminate in nature’. I then had an ultrasound guided liver biopsy. (I still had no real awareness that it had spread.) I was then told Feb 2014 that was Multiple liver mets. A bone scan done at the same time showed 'no evidence of metastatic disease. The letter received after being told of the spread stated that the CT scan confirmed ‘multiple lesions within the liver compatible with metastasis’ . So I can only reason that a CT scan does confirm mets but that they double check. I started EC chemo soon after and the mid way CT scan showed that it had spread to my spine after all. So had zometa with the chemo. It did respond to chemo so went onto tamoxifen and Denosumab. I asked to see if the primary could be surgically removed and had another CT scan. That showed progression in the liver but stable bones. During all this I have never had any pain and look and feel fine (but with short curly hair). Went back to chemo January this year, this time Docetaxol, again had a response at the mid scan but only stable at the end of chemo scan. Now on Letrozole. I have to have another CT soon but as I’m feeling very well have put it off so I can have (yet another) riding holiday! But will know 18 Dec if the treatment will change and whether I’ll ever get the curls to grow out!!!
Take care all. Like I said I have hardly ever posted but I look at the forum daily and it has given much secret support. Thank you all!
Re the primary I do still have it Julia.
On examination (after the first EC chemo) the consultant said that she would not remove it. This caused much grief at the time (July 2014) as I couldn’t help but feel that ‘they’ had given up on me. But on balance (much later) I came to think that her reasoning was sound in so far as the primary was mobile (and continues) to be mobile within the breast and it was not causing pain. During treatment it has got a little bit smaller now 50mm from 70mm but mostly it is just softer. Before diagnosis Dec 2013 it was just a thickening on the left side which I hardly noticed, I went to the clinic about a small lump which turned out to be benign. The thickening was the problem though. Now the nipple has also fully inverted and has reshaped it shall we say so it looks horrible. Nevertheless on balance not having surgery has meant that I could concentrate on living as well as I could. Which in my case has meant riding Lusitano horses as often as I can!
She did say that she would reconsider surgery as an option if at any time the primary did cause pain but other than that she felt that as in her opinion my overall prognosis would not be altered by taking it out, the route of least harm to me was to leave it alone. I am still not sure I know which is better; seeing it now looking so weird or seeing it gone or reconstructed. But by necessity I have mostly just got on with it as the liver and bones mets have not caused any pain yet. This disease has messed with me enough too and although I may sound relatively strong but I could just as easily cry if I think about it too much.
But if your primary is causing you grief and YOU want rid of it and you are healthy enough to cope with surgery I would seek a second opinion.
Have a good weekend all!
Ooh! Lusitano horses! Don’t get me started, I have 2 horses at home and I can honestly say that they have kept me so happy, as healthy as possible and, outside my family, a reason to get up every morning…
I think that it must be standard practice not to remove a primary unless it is causing pain or interference. I have also read, rightly or wrongly, that a primary can act as a brake on mets and slow them down. Over the last 6 years I have had several local recurrences next to my reconstruction, these were all removed until 2013 when a hilar lymph node met was discovered. Planned surgery was stopped even though this was not technically a primary. I was upset at the time but now I like to check up on its size. How things change! Hope that everyone has a restful weekend x
We all need something we love to keep on going. Glad that others rely on that amazing feeling you can get while riding a horse! Lucky you stillhere to have your own, needing to live in London this has never been an option for me but I do make up for it by riding the best horses I can in North Wales and Portugal. I’m going to Portugal for my (pre scan treat) December Lusitano fix next week! ?
I’ve never felt ill on a horse at anytime even during chemo mostly I think that in riding you just have to be in the moment!
My family though provide the day to day normal just keep going support although our boys are both at university now so the house is empty during term time.
Walking the dog twice a day kept me going throughout my two sessions of chemo, he also meant that I had to go out and face the world covered bald head and all!
My original BC nurse on diagnosis gave an off the cuff remark that I would be lucky to get two years. This outraged me! (Fortunately I didn’t have much contact with her as she retired soon after, the next one was great, but she moved hospitals and I don’t have one now).
I am coming up to living with SBC for two years now and no way do I feel I’m close to an end.
I hope everyone has found something like me to keeping living well for. For me it’s definitely family, horses and the dog.
Ps thanks Nicky for the welcome to the forum!
Hi Cress
I was given EC chemo because the mets were found so don’t understand why they cancelled it for you when they were found. I know we are all individuals and each case is unique but this just sounds that treatment can be a bit hit and miss which could be a concern.
It is easy to say and not to do but please make an appointment to discuss your concerns with your onc as soon as possible.
Don’t worry though I completely ignored the unwelcome comments of that original BC nurse. Statistical graphs are bell shaped with long tails each side of the mean, I must be pretty close to the mean average now but I see no reason why I can’t be somewhere on that longer life long tail too, like many of the ladies on this forum. Although I am 54 I maintain quite a high level of fitness what with riding, dog walking and weekly Pilates. I also work for myself so I can organise my time to suit myself. Being quietly very stubborn and resilient also helps! That said I still cry a lot but in the circumstances I think that is acceptable! And without that occasional release of emotion I wouldn’t be able to be me too!
Ps Lusitano horses are the best therapy ever’
Loving the equine therapy going on here, I have a lovely horse, the other day I was having a really low time, couldn’t stop crying, took Freddie out for a hack, within a minute of sitting on him, the tears stopped and I came home smiling, haven’t cried since, he is the best therapist I could ask for !
So agree equine therapy the best! Dog therapy a close second! My OH is non horsey but understands that I just need to go away and ride lovely horses to keep myself going. I do get a weekly fix at my local riding school and ride a mechanical horses very often too but since diagnosis two years ago I gallavant off to Wales and Portugal as often as I can on top of that! I’ve used having SBC positively as the reason for changing how I do things. Regular riding holidays between (and during) chemo works for me! I do feel guilty leaving home and the dog to go away but the boost I get by being away is priceless. The OH does take me to Wales sometimes for shorter breaks. But now I’ve returned going back to Portugal too ( I first ride a Lusitano in Portugal over 25 years ago!) my breaks are getting longer to both there and Wales! Where I go the people do all know about the BC but as long as I ride well having it doesn’t have the same importance! Indeed I can almost forget I have it!
Probably need to start a new thread on extra curricular activities that keep us all going!