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I just got home from yet another bone scan (2 within 2 weeks). My onco ordered an MRI of my left breast/chest area tomorrow. I do have a very "tender to touch" spot on the outside of my breast. Are places that are tender to touch something to be worried about? My bone scan shows my lower back at moderate risk for fracture. So I'm probably looking at a bone building med. I'm still not sure, with the pain in my right hip and a hot spot on the PET in my right hip, why they're not ordering another PET. It's so frustrating

@ShetlandPony Thank you so much for your reply! I go today for the MRI of my left breast/chest wall. I'm going to try to contact the Onc Rad this morning to see if I can get a meeting with him. I pray you are well today. Thank you so much!

I agree with Deanna! Especially when things get complicated or questions arise, go to a major cancer center for their expertise.

TNMTNGAL... I'm curious, have you seen the actual written reports from your scans, or are you sharing here what you recall being told? Also, when was the PET scan you mentioned? (I'm not understanding why you think you need another one if that one was fairly recent.) When they said your lower back is "at moderate risk for fracture," to what are they attributing that -- just degenerative disease? And how long have you had the tender breast spot? As a general rule of thumb, most new pains -- unless they're truly severe or otherwise affecting your quality of life -- can be given 3 weeks to see if they go away on their own, as the majority of odd aches and pains will. I am, quite frankly, more concerned about the hip pain you described initially, which I'm not sure has been diagnosed as yet -- or has it???

TNMTNGAL, hopefully your oncologist is the only doctor ordering scans for you. Reading through the thread, it feels like the basic diagnostics aren’t being covered or followed up on by your team. A bone scan is done in nuclear medicine. Patient receives an injection of a radioactive tracer, waits three hours, and then Ian scanned from head to ankle. If you haven’t had this test yet as described, it’s absolutely what is needed in order to dx bone mets. For diagnostic purposes and to establish a baseline, you might also speak with your MO about CT scans of your lungs, abdomen and pelvis. For this test you have to drink that yucky barium liquid over the course of an hour and then can get all three areas scanned.

It’s ok to ask your doctor for a full summary of where he or she is in the diagnostic process and what next steps might be up for discussion. I find I have to stay on top of all of this to keep everything moving along.

Yes, they've only done DEXA scans so far. I have an appointment with my GP today and im going to ask her to order a nuclear bone scan. This will only be the second time I've seen her because I recently changed drs because my old one didn't seem to be interested in finding out what's going on. My new general practitioner is a lady, who's had a similar situation as mine and actually understands my concerns and is willing to order tests needed to get a specific dx. She just has to do tests in the correct order because of my insurance, but she is very concerned. I will update you on what I find out at my appointment today. My oncologist was the one who ordered the MRI on my breast yesterday but I asked for results to be sent to my new GP today so she can go ahead and give me results because my next appointment with my onco isn't until March. Thank you ladies so very much for your concern, replies, and advice. I truly appreciate it! I'll talk with you later today to let you know what I find out. Prayers much appreciated for what I'm facing

@dlb823 Thank you! I just got home from my checkup with my new GP. I absolutely love her! She asked my concerns, which I told her, and she never questioned anything. She asked me what I wanted her to do. I told her I'd be more at ease if I had either a nuclear bone scan or a PET. She's ordering one. I'm not sure which yet. The lady at scheduling already called me on my way home to ask if I was still going to have the same insurance after January 1st so she can get the request going. I'll keep you updated as I find out more information. Thank you so much for your replies and concern! I pray each of you are well

Happy new year!

I wonder what kind of chance it is that lesions in bone scan and MRI turn out not to be a met after other test (such as bone biopsy). Or anyone whose PET scan is negative but later turns out to have met after biopsy.

I had these three tests done due to hip pain. Bone scan shows abnormal uptake, MRI shows a lesion, but PET is completely negative. Not sure if PET is falsely negative or the MRI lesion is really not a met

Thank you.

TNM - I'm assuming this is a nuclear bone scan? I was told nothing after midnight. Easier to be safe than sorry.

Prep for my quarterly bone scans and Pelvic/chest CTs is always the same - no restrictions for the bone scan but I must fast for several hours before the CT. I have the nuclear injection at 7 am, start drinking the lovely barium contrast at 7:30 (don't let them fool you - the mocha tastes nothing like coffee 😊), CT at 8:30, then bone scan at 10. It's a great way to stack the appointments.

The first couple of times I grabbed coffee and breakfast in between the two procedures, only to learn my bowelsaren't particularly fond of the barium. Now I just sip a cup of coffee until the scan, then eat later when I'm home again.

Glad the bone scan is done, TNMTNGAL! From my experience, it's impossible to judge from a quick peek or from a technician's attitude, which is another common thing -- the tech suddenly goes from chatty to all business-like, so we fear they've seen something ominous. I've seen a lot of white and been absolutely certain it was bad news -- made myself literally sick worrying about it -- only to find out everything was stable or improved. The area you're asking about is very bony, so I think would look quite densely white. However, it really is impossible to tell anything from quick peeks or descriptions of quick peeks.

Fingers crossed and totally hoping for only good news!

Anyone here ever have high liver enzymes from tamoxifen. I asked in that thread also, just worry about liver mets since it has steadily risen to twice normal over the past year and if gets any higher, MO will order ultrasound of live

TNMTNGAL, I'm not a radiologist, and you're definitely not crazy, although I can see how this going in circles with scans could make you crazy!

If I were you, I'd take a deep breath and just be very, very thankful the bone scan did not show mets. Give things a few days to settle down, and see what your caring primary doc suggests doing next. Clearly, everyone seems to agree something is amiss in your hip/back. The challenge will be finding an expert radiologist and/or ortho doc to put all the scan information together to sort out what's really going on. But for now, I am very thankful -- and I know you are -- to hear the word "normal."

Dear All,

How do you determine cm size to list on profile? My BS, after MRI Gave me 3 numbers and they are huge compared to anyone's anywhere in this sight I can find. I am a wreck and didn't think to ask him today why he gave me 3 numbers. He said size of baseball. Please, if any of you can private message me, i would appreciate it.

Waiting for today's biopsy to see if invasive, which he highlysuspects after talking to RO. Mastectomy (how do u abbreviate? ) for sure after chemo,

Terrified.

@dlb823, thank you so much for your suggestions. I sentthe three scans this morning for a second opinion. For blood test, my Onc does not really believe in tumor marker, plus I was DCIS microinvasion, he never tested my tumor marker. I will see what the second opinion is and decide the next step. I heard that PET sometimes can be false negative, so may need to prepare for bone biopsy.