Need advice on CT PET Scans? Did you?

My MO told me that those scans are normally only ordered if someone is symptomatic or has signs leading to concern about metastasis. He stated that there is a lot of anxiety, radiation, and cost to do them without justification.

Of course - that made sense at the time. Now I do wonder and worry. I will have a repeat MRI after chemo. And surgery is yet to happen as well.

I suppose the results of those things will determine whether I (or anyone else) wants more testing done.

My MO ordered one after my initial lumpectomy and sentinel node biopsy revealed multiple positive nodes. She said sometimes there's a lot of push-back from insurance companies but mine was a staging scan and they approved it, no problem. It was an anxious time, yes, but I wanted to know what I was dealing with, Stage III or Stage IV.

You have not had surgery yet, right? if that is the situation, may make more sense to wait until after chemo and surgery for the PET. If there is cancer elsewhere, some insurances will not pay out for surgery (lumpectomy or mastectomy) for Stage IV. Recent studies show that patients do better long term if the original breast tumor is removed so you want to keep your surgical options open. The bottom line is: if you are ok with doing chemo (and if getting a stage IV diagnosis would not change that), go with your treatment plan as it is. It is possible that if you were technically stage IV, the chemo may resolve it without it becoming "official"--your post chemo/surgery scans may show no evidence of disease. Who needs the emotional (and possible insurance) damages of that diagnosis? You can always get the PET after--assume your doc may want to do one at that point anyway.