MRI - CAT SCAN - BONE SCAN do you need to have these

I had a CAT, MRI, bone scan and a PET (had a biopsy for a place along jaw that lit up on the PET - negative) before TX.  Had an EKG too.  Also had a new CAT on last day of Taxol as rads Dr wanted a new one before I started Rads the next week.

Winyan - The Power Within

 Susan

Lynn Smith said:

I didn't have

I didn't have chemo or radiaiton and I've never had a MRI or any other tests soon after my dx. BUT my sister had 4 rounds of chemo(no radiation) and then she had a MRI.Doctor told her she was cancer free.It hadn't spread.She was Stage 2 in one breast and Stage 3 in the other breast.Double mascetomy.

I thought she would have much more treatment than she had.I mean more chemo and also radiaion.But this was her treatment.She was dx July,2012.

Lynn Smith

I used to wonder why.  I think the reason I didn't have them was because I had clear nodes, clear margins, no lymphovascular involvement,  and a relatively small tumor (9 mm).  There was no in your face reason to suspect anything that would be big enough to show up on a CT or bone scan and I had no symptoms to suggest it.  I did have a breast MRI about a year after treatments because my pcp ordered it (not oncology).  I had a palpable lump in my other breast and both mammogram and ultrasounds were clear and she said she just would not forgive herself if she didn't go one step more and order an MRI.  It was fine.  My oncologist has continued the breast MRIs on a yearly basis because now for some reason she thinks it's a good idea.  So I have mammograms in June and MRIs in December.  If I have a local recurrence, it should be caught early.  I have only blood work (CBC and comprehensive lab panel) done every 6 months and I'm not sure that any organ dysfunction caused by mets would show up until it was pretty advanced so I'm not really sure why I have them done.  Maybe they do them because of potential organ dysfunction from AIs or Tamoxifen?  Just guessing.

I used to worry why "they" weren't checking everywhere and everything on me.  I'm at peace with all that now, 3 years later because I guess I just don't want to go looking for trouble.   I feel great again but would report anything out of the ordinary no matter how trivial it seems.  I guess Im one of the folks where the risks of the scans would be greater than the risks of recurrence of the disease - and that's a good place to be.

Suzanne