Mets....how can you be assured you dont have them?

nora_az

I am at the end of my treatment phase. I just finished Herceptin, got my port out and on anastrozole everyday now for 5 years. My status and all my treatments are in my info area below this message.

My question. Ok, so I had a MRI to the breasts before I had DIEP, I had a ct scan 2 times for the plastic surgeon (not for the onc) How are they so sure I didnt have mets to any area at my first diagnosis. I had one positive lymph node and one very small tumor which was in the lymph node channel. Should they have done a brain MRI, other scans or anything different? Was I followed more closely than I thought or did they just assume I didn't have mets anywhere else?

Those women who say they started out as stage IV is it because their doctors were more diligent in trying to find it?

This topic has really been on my mind a lot lately!

hrf

For those women who were Stage IV at the get go, it means that the testing they underwent showed signs of metastatic disease. 

Most of us go through the same tests but nothing shows. However, these tests are not so precise that they can actually identify very small isolated cells wandering around. Sometimes they wander around for a few years before they actually take hold and start to grow. There is no way of telling usually until there are symptoms. That is why we never stop worrying because we can be "clear" for a long time and t hen one day -- it's back. And that can happen 5 or 10 or even 20 years following initial dx. Diagnostic technology for bc is in a very primitive stage still.  

barsco1963

nora_az - I have been stage IV from the get go - liver mets detected thru CT scan after mx. I had 21 of 29 nodes positive which I believe is why the CT was done.

Is certainly a good idea to talk to your onc to feel more at ease about everything.

nora_az

I suppose it all makes sense. My blood work would be off and I'd be suffering pain which I would report to my ONC who in turn would order tests.

There is no guarantee for any of us. I have learned the past year how fragile life really is. One day you wake up and are told you have cancer and from then on life (and how we choose to live it)  just takes on a whole new meaning.