NED visits again

Ann, I am so happy that you got all good news on your follow-up and that you get a whole year off before the next one!  The things that showed up on your CT scan sound very similar to what showed up on my most recent ones.  Are you sure your doc was looking at your scan and not mine?    I have had granulomas in my lungs for years that are considered old and calcified, which sounds like the case for you as well.  They are of no concern, according to my docs.  I also have a fuzzy area in my liver that they've been watching, but I truly believe that if they thought it was anything to be concerned about, I would have already had a biopsy.  I will have another CT scan in February.  My oncologist told me that small cysts are common on the liver and are usually benign.  Since yours is stable, I'm sure it's just a pesky little cyst that is not out to cause you any trouble. 

As for your upcoming appt. with your colorectal doc, if a colonoscopy is mentioned, I would definitely ask why another one would be necessary.  I am determined to not have another one for at least a couple of years.  My doctor has done 5 of them in the last 6 years and that's enough.  They have always been clear, except for that little anal tumor on the very first one.  I continue to see her every 6 months for anoscopes, so in my mind, that is enough monitoring!  What has happened with both my medical oncologist's group and my colorectal doctor's group is the local hospital has swallowed up their practices.  I don't know if the hospital "owns" them or if, as they say on their business cards now, it's just an "affiliation."  At any rate, I think the hospital is putting lots of pressure on the physicians to generate revenue, as in "scoping for dollars."

Enjoy your good news and have a very Happy Thanksgiving!  Hugs!

Martha

Ouch_Ouch_Ouch said:

Sometimes, there's TMI.

My First Big Three Month Scan report was an extremely detailed two pages of close, small typing. The radiation oncologist looked at it and said, "It looks like Betsy interpreted this one. If anyone else had done it, it would have only been about 1/3 as long." Sure enough, read by Elisabeth! She mentioned all kinds of stuff that the RO doesn't think is relavent, just the normal anatomical variations and accumulated minor things that crop with time. However, as a result, I am now referred to a neurosurgeon by my primary for the Tarlov cyst that Betsey saw as he doesn't know the future implications, if any.

You are exactly right.  As my radiologist friend has also said about PET scans, they are good because they show everything and they are bad because they show everything!  Like your experience demonstrates, a lot of what our scan reports say is dependent upon the radiologist who reads the scan.  They all have their own style and some are much more into details than others.  My friend, Dr. Mac, definitely has his "favorites" among their large radiology group when it comes to reading PET scans of mine.  Some of the details on those reports are insignificant, but to a lay person, it can all sound very scary.  I now know I have a cyst on one kidney, one on my spleen, and calcified granulomas in both lungs.  TMI, for sure!

I hope your consult with the neurosurgeon will go well regarding the Tarlov cyst.  I don't know too much about those, but it seems to me that many people probably have them and don't even know it because they have no symptoms.  I've had my share of neurological issues relating to excessive CSF and was diagnosed with congenital hydrocephalus in 1993 at the age of 39.  I had no symptoms up until about a year prior to that.  I had surgery for shunt placement and have done fine ever since (knock on wood--that would be my head!).    I wish you all good news on this and hope no intervention will be indicated.

Martha

Ouch_Ouch_Ouch said:

Shunted into the margins.

Ha! Ha! I made notes in the margins of the CT scan to ask the doctors - the margins were crammed full of tiny little notes! Even with RN experience, I don't know what most of that technical stuff signifies or why. I never heard of a Tarlov cyst before and there's not an awful lot online. It seems like it has the potential to be nasty depending on the size and location, but I don't have symptoms and anticipate that the MD will read the scan himself while I'm there and say there's nothing to it. I've taken The Uncle to the same man many times.

I DO have some experience with shunting. The Uncle has normal pressure hydrocephalis and had a shunt placed (hence the neurosurgeon). My husband and I had the sweetest legal guardianee who was born with spina bifida and hydrocephalis - he came pre-shunted. He died about 8 years ago from respiratory distress syndrome - we would trade in The Uncle in a microsecond if we could get our wonderful Eric back.

The hydro is the least of my worries.  I healed up from the surgery in a matter of weeks and have never looked back.  It's the cancer that keeps dogging me!  I do know that many older people are diagnosed with NPH, often mistaken for dementia or Alzheimers.  My symptoms prior to diagnosis were very troubling--I couldn't remember things and woke up with nausea and severe headaches.  I also have nystagmus, which is a condition where the eyeballs litterally spasm or shake.  I had that for many years prior to diagnosis and just never pursued it.  I truly believe that it's a side effect of the hydro.  I'm a mess! LOL! but healthy as a horse unless and until someone tells me otherwise!   

AZANNIE said:

Scan

Martha, I thought it was you who mentioned in a previous post about the "extra" stuff showing up in your scan - LOL!  There was a person ahead of me and hope scans didn't get mixed up. The scan was at a different facility than previous scans and I noticed it was read by a woman radiologist - hence the attention to details - lol! Please forgive if I sound sexist - lol! The dr's name was the same name as a former student so I looked up her name. She was too old to have been my student. My sister told me she had a liver cyst, but now it's gone.

Maybe I won't have to have a colonoscopy since the scan was fine.

 

Ann

 

It was probably me talking about the extra stuff showing up on my scans.  I intend to not let myself worry about any of this until the radiologist mentions seeing a VW Beetle somewhere inside of me!  LOL! 

The upside of having scans is being able to detect something serious at an early stage.  The downside, of course, is finding out about all of those other things inside of us that are most likely insignificant but conjure up all kinds of worrisome thoughts. 

I hope you can skip that colonoscopy!  Hugs!

Martha