Tests

AZANNIE

I go tomorrow for lab work and Monday is P.E.T. scan (second one post treatment). I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

RoseC

Good luck azannie!
Best wishes being sent your way!

Lorikat

I will cross mine too!

I will cross mine too!

eihtak

Lorikat said:

I will cross mine too!

I will cross mine too!

Good luck!!
Wishing you luck with your test. I know the feeling. I go on the 18th for my 2nd C scan post treatment. Does anyone know why some docs tend to do more C scans then PET? Thats what mine does and I worry that maybe I should be having a PET scan instead. Could it be insurance reasons? My husband also has a very aggresive cancer and we have had to go on a state insurance program. I feel as though I am receiving very good care, just wondering???
I pray your test results are great...its always hard waiting for results but helpful that we have each other to wait with!!

z810840b

tests
Positive thoughts sent your way!!!!!!

eihtak

Good Luck!
I pray your test goes great...Sorry I just replied wrong, think it went to Lorikat. Im kind of having a weird day and a lot going on so who knows!!I also have a CT scan on Friday so will be waiting for results as you are. Will be crossing all fingers for us all!!

Tammygoals

Test Results


I just went for my first PET Scan after treatment. It has been 4 months since treatment. I had a biopsy 2 weeks ago which came out clean. The news from my PET Scan are not 100% good. There is some low level activity in the iliac chain lymph node as well as some new activity - very low level. All my three doctors say it is nothing to worry about since I just had a biopsy and it could be because I am still healing from that as well as from the radiation. They say that PET Scans show when you have any thing not necessarily still cancer. But, I am a little worried. they will do another PET in three months.
Has anyone had this?

..



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mxperry220

eihtak said:

Good luck!!
Wishing you luck with your test. I know the feeling. I go on the 18th for my 2nd C scan post treatment. Does anyone know why some docs tend to do more C scans then PET? Thats what mine does and I worry that maybe I should be having a PET scan instead. Could it be insurance reasons? My husband also has a very aggresive cancer and we have had to go on a state insurance program. I feel as though I am receiving very good care, just wondering???
I pray your test results are great...its always hard waiting for results but helpful that we have each other to wait with!!

Pet Scans
I am 34 months post treatment. Earlier this year I ha a PET Scan. Aetna is my insurance provider. They denied the PET scan. Their policy bulletin states PET scans are not to be used for surveillance of anal cancer. I paid for Pet Scan test out of pocket. My chemo doctor said they will be requesting CT scans in the future.

mp327

Good Luck!
I wish you all great results on your labs and scan! Please let us know the good news when you get it!

mp327

Tammygoals said:

Test Results


I just went for my first PET Scan after treatment. It has been 4 months since treatment. I had a biopsy 2 weeks ago which came out clean. The news from my PET Scan are not 100% good. There is some low level activity in the iliac chain lymph node as well as some new activity - very low level. All my three doctors say it is nothing to worry about since I just had a biopsy and it could be because I am still healing from that as well as from the radiation. They say that PET Scans show when you have any thing not necessarily still cancer. But, I am a little worried. they will do another PET in three months.
Has anyone had this?

..



.

Tammygoals
Please see the reply I left on the other thread for you.

As for PET vs. CT, the NCCN guidelines do not recommend PET scans anymore for follow-up for anal cancer. They don't even recommend CT scans in follow-up guidelines except in cases of T3-T4 tumors or inguinal node positive cases where there has been complete remission. So it stands to reason that ins. co's. are not going to approve PET scans for routine follow-up. I was fortunate in that for almost the first 3 years after my treatment, my ins. co. allowed me to have PET scans. However, my med onc wanted another one in August 2011 and it was not approved by my ins. co. They did allow the CT scan and I will be having another one in February. PET scans are a very good tool for staging purposes prior to treatment, but as many of us have found out (including me), there are often "hot spots" on post-treatment PET scans, due to inflammation and radiation damage, which can be a false positive and misinterpreted.

eihtak

mxperry220 said:

Pet Scans
I am 34 months post treatment. Earlier this year I ha a PET Scan. Aetna is my insurance provider. They denied the PET scan. Their policy bulletin states PET scans are not to be used for surveillance of anal cancer. I paid for Pet Scan test out of pocket. My chemo doctor said they will be requesting CT scans in the future.

PET Scan Info
Thanks...Approx. how much out of pocket was the scan if you dont mind??? I can also check elseware on that. I just feel like I would know more how Im doing overall with a PET scan. I am only 7mo. post treatment so maybe my doctor just wants to wait on that and a CT scan is ok for now. Im just feeling so anxious lately always wondering if everything is on tract as should be. As I said, my husband is also sick...Multiple Myeloma a blood cancer, he is having a bone marrow transplant Dec.9th. The hospital that he'll be at is 3hrs away, and my doc. is close to home so lots of coordinating to do. He will be in the hospital for 6weeks and than needs to stay within 1/2 hr away from that hospital for the next 3months. I pray I will be well enough to mostly be with him but also traveling back and forth to take care of family and house here!!!!! Oh well, like we all say...one day at a time. Thanks again for your input.

eihtak

mp327 said:

Good Luck!
I wish you all great results on your labs and scan! Please let us know the good news when you get it!

Scans
Thanks again...you are often so full of helpful info. I already feel better!

duckyann

eihtak said:

Scans
Thanks again...you are often so full of helpful info. I already feel better!

I only had 2 PET/CT's post
I only had 2 PET/CT's post treatment at 4 months & 16 months out. My last scan was a CT of just my abdomen and pelvis because my insurance would not cover anything else! My first scan did not show any activity but my 16 month scan showed some SUV uptake on the opposite side of my anus of where the original cancer was. The uptake was 2.5. So I had a biopsy done and all was ok....Thank God! I also get nervous about not having the PET but I try to stay level and think well my doctor said it will be ok and I will trust that.

I want to wish you the best of luck on your upcoming scan!

Take care
Nancy

mxperry220

eihtak said:

PET Scan Info
Thanks...Approx. how much out of pocket was the scan if you dont mind??? I can also check elseware on that. I just feel like I would know more how Im doing overall with a PET scan. I am only 7mo. post treatment so maybe my doctor just wants to wait on that and a CT scan is ok for now. Im just feeling so anxious lately always wondering if everything is on tract as should be. As I said, my husband is also sick...Multiple Myeloma a blood cancer, he is having a bone marrow transplant Dec.9th. The hospital that he'll be at is 3hrs away, and my doc. is close to home so lots of coordinating to do. He will be in the hospital for 6weeks and than needs to stay within 1/2 hr away from that hospital for the next 3months. I pray I will be well enough to mostly be with him but also traveling back and forth to take care of family and house here!!!!! Oh well, like we all say...one day at a time. Thanks again for your input.

Out Of Pocket
The oncologist let me pay what my insurance company had been paying for prior PET scans. Aetna has a contract to pay $1,750. The amount the doctor billed as $4,000.

z

Tammygoals said:

Test Results


I just went for my first PET Scan after treatment. It has been 4 months since treatment. I had a biopsy 2 weeks ago which came out clean. The news from my PET Scan are not 100% good. There is some low level activity in the iliac chain lymph node as well as some new activity - very low level. All my three doctors say it is nothing to worry about since I just had a biopsy and it could be because I am still healing from that as well as from the radiation. They say that PET Scans show when you have any thing not necessarily still cancer. But, I am a little worried. they will do another PET in three months.
Has anyone had this?

..



.

Tammy
Yes I had a 4.3 SUV uptake on a pet/ct post tx at 9 months. Still healing from radiation. My treatment ended 6-30-09 and I am absolutley fine. You will be fine too. Lori

melbas

eihtak said:

PET Scan Info
Thanks...Approx. how much out of pocket was the scan if you dont mind??? I can also check elseware on that. I just feel like I would know more how Im doing overall with a PET scan. I am only 7mo. post treatment so maybe my doctor just wants to wait on that and a CT scan is ok for now. Im just feeling so anxious lately always wondering if everything is on tract as should be. As I said, my husband is also sick...Multiple Myeloma a blood cancer, he is having a bone marrow transplant Dec.9th. The hospital that he'll be at is 3hrs away, and my doc. is close to home so lots of coordinating to do. He will be in the hospital for 6weeks and than needs to stay within 1/2 hr away from that hospital for the next 3months. I pray I will be well enough to mostly be with him but also traveling back and forth to take care of family and house here!!!!! Oh well, like we all say...one day at a time. Thanks again for your input.

myeloma
If you don't mind my asking, how old is your husband? After the anal cancer, my onc told me that I have a-plastic anemia, which causes my bone marrow to eat itself, but I'm not a good candidate because of my age. I'm 50, and she said after age 40 a bone marrow transplant could be fatal. Thanks, Melodie

eihtak

melbas said:

myeloma
If you don't mind my asking, how old is your husband? After the anal cancer, my onc told me that I have a-plastic anemia, which causes my bone marrow to eat itself, but I'm not a good candidate because of my age. I'm 50, and she said after age 40 a bone marrow transplant could be fatal. Thanks, Melodie

Multiple Myeloma
Hi, My husband is now 55yrs old. Two yrs ago he had a stem cell transplant where they took out his own stem cells, killed off everything in him with awful doses of chemo, then transplanted his stem cells back into him...this usually has good results but unfortunately his cancer is very aggressive and it only held him at bay for a short time. This time he needed a donor, his brother is a match, so they will take bone marrow from his brother and after the "killer chemo" they will transplant the bone marrow into him. Then we spend many weeks praying he will not have rejection issues. For most of the last 2yrs he has been on a weekly chemo maintenance program...tough way to live!!!
From what I've learned bone marrow transplantation(BMT) is a relatively new medical procedure being used to treat diseases once thought incurable. It was first successful in 1968. They now use it to treat,leukemia, aplastic anemia, lymphomas:(Hodgkins disease, multiple myeloma, immune deficiency disorders, and sometimes solid tumors in breast and ovaries. So....this would include you, we have met others older than my husband undergoing similar treatment, especially the original stem cell transplant that as I said usually has a positive outcome, tho as always other health issues play a role in what can be done. Hope this is of help, good luck with all you must have on your plate, you are already in my prayers.