I was wondering if anybody has any kind of follow up scans/tests after their treatment has finished. I know that this probably isn’t standard but why don’t they do this in the area that’s been treated to make sure there is nothing sinister there. Wouldn’t it be better to do this than to just wait and see? Interested to hear if anybody has any follow up other than 3 monthly visit to oncologist.
Thanks
Ruby
Hi Ruby
It doesn’t seem to be standard practice to scan after treatment has finished.
I think most people seem are told to go to their oncologists if they have any symptoms which do not clear up after 2/3 weeks.
The argument against scans is that they are only a ‘snapshot’ of you at a particular moment in time and therefore have very limited validity, also they do not, I understand, pick up anomalies below a certain size. They are also stressful and do expose the patient to additionaln radiation (or whatever).
For personal reasons, I have had trouble getting my head round some of this, but it does seem to be standard practice in the UK.
X
S
The cancer has to be the size of the nail on your little finger before it is detected by a scan. In my own case I was advised by the oncologists that they wouldn’t scan as they do not expect to find anything. My cousin is an oncology professor and I asked him about this; he backed my oncologist and said she was right.
Thanks for the feedback Bahons and Cherub - I guess it must be a case of like you say if something doesn’t clear up in 2-3 weeks do something about it.
Rx
Hi Ruby,I have 6 monthly checks at the Breast clinic and 6 monthly at Oncology ,My treatment ended last June and had a mamogram in September,I am now waiting for the Osteo test for bones.
I am told this will go on for a year or two
Best wishes Jackie x
Hi Ruby,
I had a 4cm lump and 4 out of 10 positive lymph nodes. In my hospital this triggered a bone scan and lung/liver scan. Unfortunately my lung scan showed 2 nodules (although I was only told about the second one this week!) They didnt know what this was so rescanned me a year later in May 2008. I was then discharged from scanning as the scan was unchanged, therefore their view was it is very unlikely to be sinister. I was happy to be discharged as I find scanning very stressful.
As I am waiting for recon and had lymph node involvement I have had to have this scan repeated again… despite being told 6 months ago it was not needed! Again, the nodules are there apparently unchanged. However, this time they are not going to discharge me from scanning and want to scan me again in 6 months! I dont really understand why and wish Id quizzed the surgeon more about it, I know scans are expensive and they dont just do them for no reason. Whilst you may think Im lucky, as some people say, to be scanned it is very stressful and I think the benefits of it are probably limited in terms of better prognosis if secondaries are picked up earlier, although I may be mistaken on that one.
Take care,
Polly x
Hi Polly and Jackie
Thanks for your feedback. Polly my lump was similar size to yours and also similar re lymph node involvement. What I found really odd what that the ultrasound scan I had before any treatment started showed several lymph nodes to be abnormal but nobody told me this until months later. When I had my mastectomy, I was told the results were 1 lymph node had cancer in it and that the main lump had shrunk to 7mm so I had a very good response to the chemo. I always wonder whether the other lymph nodes had originally had cancer but had been killed off by the chemo hence the results after surgery. I am also waiting to see a surgeon about reconstruction but haven’t started the process yet so don’t know if they’ll want to scan me like they are scanning you. I did have a few liver scans as they did find what was eventually called a haemangioma (collection of blood vessels) these remained the same after chemo and hence there were no worries in that area. I had another liver scan more recently due to discomfort and again that showed up nothing. I know exactly what you mean about the stress of the scans - I feel exactly the same way - I would almost rather not see the oncologist with my worries in case they decide to send me for one. I’m also scared to go for an eye test as my sister just had a really big scare and they found something in her eye which has now been treated (apparently this is very rare) but it has made me scared even to do this now. By the sounds of things, your lung had a similar things to my liver and lots of people have these things which are only ever discovered when having scans but the whole process of going through it all is very scarey. The thing I wonder is that if there is some kind of local reoccurence which can be cured - would scans/ultrasound not pick these up before they become more serious?
Best wishes.
Ruby xxx
Hi Ruby, Just saw this. Funnily enough, I am also thinking about this too at the moment. I also wonder if there is some kind of local reccurence - would scans/ultrasound not pick these up before they become more serious? xx
Hi teacup
I’ve had a local recurrence - picked up by a PET scan ordered by specialist.
S
Hi Bahons
what are the symptoms of a local recurrence?Pet scan is not available to me,I have a dodgy area of scar but the doctor thinks so far no need for a biopsy,also don’t know how much he knows about cancer