To scan or not to scan - that is the question...

Options
jc3win
jc3win Member Posts: 61
edited June 2014 in Young With Breast Cancer

My doctor does not do routine scans. I have no issues going on that might warrant a scan. The last PET I had was right after surgery and it was NED. I have told myself over the last couple of years that if I could just hold out for "one more year" I would "allow" myself to beg for a PET.

My theory is that since my cancer is slow growing, (if it is still growing anywhere) it would likely not be big enough to show on a PET scan for a few years. So I just keep convincing myself that I will finally get another scan next year and then maybe I will feel really cancer free.

I go through times of just really wanting to get a clean scan so I can consider myself "safe" for a while instead of constantly wondering if it is growing again.

Of course the rational, sane side of me (yes, there is one in there) says if there are no symptoms then why borrow trouble? Why stir up the whole cancer thing again before I really HAVE to? Maybe I will never have to face it again - but if I do wouldn't it be nice to live in denial for as long as possible? Arren't there stats that say that early detection of mets does not really change overall survival that much??? Why would I want to have a random scan to find something that might not have caused pain for several more years?

These are all just things that have been going through my mind lately... I doubt I will really ever ask for a scan unless I have a symptom - it is something I just think about every so often.  I so wish that BC had a simple, reliable blood test like the PSA test for prostate cancer.

· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Comments

  • DiDel
    DiDel Member Posts: 1,329
    edited September 2011

    Jennifer

    My onc doesnt do scans either ..in fact I have never had a scan. It makes me so nervous..I used to ask my onc why no scans and he would say because you dont need one and he didnt want to subject me to the radiation of scans..Ok...didnt ease my mind..so I finally asked him how HE knows I dont need a scan. he told me exactly what he was looking at in my blood work that would indicate mets. I keep copies of all my labs so I went back and reviewed my numbers and saw that not only are they in the normal range..they havent changed at all even all through chemo and now one year PFC. I understand how you feel though...I will be 2 years in November and I still dont feel any relief of being "in the clear". Someone said to me yesterday.."so are you cured" I thought it stupid and insensitive especially since she is a nurse. I simply told her they dont use that phrase that I was in remission and hope to stay that way.

    Good luck to you!!

    Diane

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • ratbait
    ratbait Member Posts: 141
    edited September 2011

    The sad reality is that ER/PR positive cancers have a constant risk for at least fifteen years of recurrence, which averages between 2 to 4 percent per year, depending upon nodal status. Getting a clean scan now doesn't mean you will not recur in the future. Scans have real costs, both financial as well as future health risks. If you have no symptoms, there is no reason to ask for a scan.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Categories