CT Scans and Bone Scans

Hi Scared -

The results are available in 24 hours. I usually arrange to get my scans faxed to me. I read through them them before I talk to the doctor. Not the usual sequence it seems. I see some people getting a phone call and other people having an appointment with their oncologist schedule a day or two after the scan.

I want to process the information, drive the conversation to my concerns, have all my questions lined up.. It's too overwhelming to take in good or bad news in a 30 minute meeting much less a phone call. So I have arranged with my doctors to get the full report as soon as it is available.

The main thing to know is that if scans are "bad" and you have metastasis there are a lot of options for treatment and a lot of tough brave women here ready to show you how its done. Good or bad, we'd like to hear back from with all your thoughts and questions.

I have all kinds of aches and pains and my cancer is receding at the moment. I am sure I will have aches and pains if and when it progresses. If you have aches and pains that worry you, you need to get a scan. You've done that. Now let it go. Whatever is coming, you can deal with it.

Frankly if you have mets it's best that you know. It seems like so many people are mis-diagnosed. I would have been as well if it weren't persistent. Push until you feel confident you know what is going on.

>Z<

I know how scared you are, because that was me just a month or two ago!!

My onc knows that waiting for test results is pure agony for me, so he and I have made a deal that he will call me with results the same day of tests -- usually within a few hours. My end of the deal is that I have to call him that day and remind him I'm having XYZ test, because he can't possibly remember when *I* have tests scheduled. So for basic scans, you should be able to get the results within 24 hours, but some doctors prefer to deliver results in person. I've insisted I'd rather hear over the phone. You can also schedule an appointment for the day after any tests, so you can get the results in person if that's what you prefer.

OK so here's what happened to me, and although I did end up stage 4, I hope this story doesn't scare you (feel free to stop now if it will be too much!!) but I was looking to hear these kind of details before the mets diagnosis.

I was stage 1, 3 years ago. By November of this past year, I was having significant, disabling pain in my hip and neck. Finally my primary and onc agreed we needed to do scans. So I went for a bone scan. Doc called me the same day and told me the scan was clean. PURE RELIEF. However, what I didn't realize is that it was a preliminary report... I'm still not sure exactly what happened, but an addendum was added to the report that showed a small spot on my rib. It's an unlikely first place for cancer to metastasize, and my onc didn't even tell me about it til my next appointment in March of this year. He said it was probably nothing but he wanted to repeat the bone scan. He called me the same day to tell me it showed a slight increase in activity, but they were still thinking it was not cancer. However, because I was wanting to get pregnant, he wanted to be thorough, so he sent me for a CT. That was also kind of ambiguous. He consulted with another doc and called me the next day to tell me, "It REALLY doesn't look like cancer, but because you want to have a baby, let's just do a biopsy to put this to rest." Cue the panic!! I kind of felt by that point that it must be mets, but was still hoping my doctor was "just being thorough." The biopsy results took a really long time... a week and a half? My husband finally called for the results because I was too scared to. I could tell in seconds from the look on his face that it was positive, and I grabbed the phone to get the details.

That call was one of the worst moments of my life... but so far, being "stage 4," while horrible, hasn't been as bad as I expected. It's kind of like my worst fears have been realized, and now there's nothing else to fear. I am just living my life, preparing for the worst but hoping for the best. Treatment is far easier than early-stage treatment so far. I'm lucky in that I only have one met, in my bone, and it seems to be slow-growing, so I have it easier, I have time and am relatively healthy compared to some of my stage 4 sisters. I know it will get worse and harder down the line, but I am just enjoying my life in the meantime. I didn't know that it was possible to go on after hearing such bad news, but I am proof that it is, for some of us, possible! I hope you get great news!! As you can see from my story, the spots where I was having such debilitating pain, didn't even show cancer, and the spot that did have cancer wasn't particularly painful.

I also hope that if you get bad news, you realize you can still live for years or even longer as stage 4. There are some here that have been around for 10, even 20+ years since their mets diagnosis!! All the survival stats were gathered in 2001 I believe? So many new treatments have come out in the last 15+ years and this can be treatable for a long time. Hugs!!

Scared, often the results will not appear in the portal for a while. They want you to discuss with your doctor first. Do you have an appointment? Or a promise that they'll call you?

After lo these many years I schedule my scans for the day before my doctor's appointment. Often he e-mails me the results in advance (we've been at this a long time -- I wouldn't recommend it to everyone). But the results don't appear on the portal for a week.

I hope the CT turns up benign.

yay.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

forgot that I posted I had scans and I was waiting for my results. I got the results and I am responding very well to the treatment. Scans looked good and tumor markers continue to go down. Wishing you all good health and full recoveries!!!