Doctor wants CT/Bone scan before 1st oncologist/surgeon meeting?

dadof3ohio

We got the news last Friday that my wife has been diagnosed with breast cancer from a 2 cm spot that they took samples from. She also had one lymph node that showed up on MRI as "borderline" so they biopsied it as well and it showed cancer too. The cancer is ER+/PR+, HER2-. We don't know much more beyond that for this point other than my wife has one breast that became very dense after breast feeding and they were worried the density was hiding this. She's had one very dense breast about 2 years now. We had a good day or two as our appointment for oncologist and surgeon was set for 4/9. Then yesterday we got the call that they want to do a CT and Bone scan before meeting with oncologist/surgeon. The nurse practitioner kept apologizing to my wife for the diagnosis and I don't want to read into this but my head just swirls. Why the bone scan and CT scan before the meeting? Is it likely because of the lympth node and they do it ahead of time because of that? Anyone else have this type of experience or know of this being the case? Again this is all so new to her and my family that we're trying to hold it together in this waiting period but that call yesterday was another unexpected call and it put our spirits down.

thanks for reading and I appreciate any advice or experience you can share.

dtad

Hi there. So sorry you have to be here but welcome. I know you will find this community to be both informative as well as comforting. Your wife is very lucky to have you. Please do not look too much into the order of tests needed. They probably just want to get the whole picture before seeing the oncologist. The waiting period is the absolute worst part of this journey. I promise you will all feel better once you have all the details and a treatment plan. We are all here for you. God luck and keep us posted.

Spookiesmom

A PET/ct before hand is to rule out cancer anywhere else. That would help determine treatment. I’ve had 2, each time only lit up where expected.

Best wishes

ElaineTherese

Not everyone gets such scans before meeting with the oncologist, but I did. I got a PET/CT scan to see whether or not my cancer had spread beyond the breast/compromised lymph node. Yes, your wife is probably getting the scans because her lymph node tested positive. Chances are, her cancer is localized, but if it's not, that would change the treatment plan.

Every oncologist is different. My first oncologist loved to scan (I had three PET/CT scans and three MRIs with her), but my second oncologist hasn't ordered any, other than routine mammograms and dexa scans. There are pros and cons with scanning. Of course, it's nice when the scans don't pick anything up, but scans also can produce false positives, which can induce anxiety. Hopefully, your wife's scans will provide more comfort than anxiety. ((Hugs))

gb2115

I would put money on it being probably because of the lymph node. I didn't have those tests until after surgery, when they found a positive lymph node. Before surgery they thought the lymph nodes were fine---surprise! They just want to be sure it didn't travel anywhere else. It's hard waiting on those test results, but she will get through it.

sweetp6217

I may be putting the cart before the horse, but bone scans help for several reasons. I wish they had let me get a bone scan early in my treatment, but they made me wait until chemo was done.

I really hope that your wife's tests give answers for the doctors to make their decisions.

AliceBastable

I had a CT scan a few days before my lumpectomy because I was a smoker and the MO wanted something more detailed than a chest X-Ray. Lungs were fine, but it showed a honkin' big kidney cancer, totally unrelated.

Meow13

Always a good idea to get the CT scan to make sure of no progression also it is valuable to be able to compare possible future scans.

edwards750

I have never had a scan throughout the whole process. I did have a micromet that showed up in the SN from the Path report. Prior to that I had a lumpectomy. BS was surprised at the micromet. I was stunned. It ended okay because I had the Oncotype test and my score was low so I dodged chemo and had 33 radiation treatments instead.

I was a smoker at the time of my lumpectomy. The anesthesiologist was ticked that my BS didn't do an EKG prior to surgery so he did one. It was fine. I had had one 2 years prior that was fine but the hospital had my records on microfiche. The nurse who took my blood pressure weight, etc was a mess for some reason. She couldn't seem to get anything right. Not the person you want tending to you before surgery. Then in the operating room one of them said they needed to get my oxygen level up when it was 99? She told me to take a deep breath - I did and she said oh okay. Not the most efficient medical team.

I will be 8 years out in August God willing.

Diane

buttonsmachine

I'm sorry you and your family are going through this.

As for your question - I am of the opinion that it's good to collect as much information as possible before proceeding. My original doctors didn't always do this, and I ended up doing some inappropriate treatment that was both hard and pointless. As a previous poster said, the treatment plan would likely change depending on the results - at the end of the day, it will be better for your wife to have the full picture and avoid any unnecessary/unhelpful procedures.

Best wishes to all of you going forward.

jessie123

My surgeon ordered a bone scan prior to my surgery to check for metastasis, but also probably as a baseline. It may be helpful in the future for comparison.

kber

Don't read too much into the test, other than your doctors are covering their bases and getting the full picture before they make a treatment recommendation.  This is a good thing.