Surgeon said no, scan said yes

zigswife
zigswife Member Posts: 61
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
When my husband's stage IV was diagnosed, the scans showed spots in his abdomen and underneath his liver that they labeled as metastatic sites. The surgeon who removed the original tumor in his colon confired the mets on his liver but said based on a visual inspection there were no other spots that the scans were showing. Has this happened to anyone else and from your experiences, which is more reliable for identifying additional mets- scans or a visual inspection? Thanks everyone!

Comments

  • PhillieG
    PhillieG Member Posts: 4,866 Member
    My answer is
    The scan. They put contrast in there that lights up when cancer is present. While a visual inspection may be good, I think it would be easier to overlook something. That's my take on it.
    -phil
  • angelsbaby
    angelsbaby Member Posts: 1,165 Member
    PhillieG said:

    My answer is
    The scan. They put contrast in there that lights up when cancer is present. While a visual inspection may be good, I think it would be easier to overlook something. That's my take on it.
    -phil

    THE SCAN
    With angel my husband the scan only showed small spots in pelvic region when in fact the surgeon who went in to the pelvic region to remove the blockage was stunned that there were so many big tumors all over and the scan did not show that But the other scans before lit up in all the areas he had cancer so i'm not sure. I know that the dr that first did the surgery and confrimed it was cancer said he did not see any cancer but as time goes on the seeds start to grow. So i would still ask for the scans and hope they are correct.

    michelle