DLBCL 1 Year Scan Findings

Dante S
Dante S Member Posts: 15 Member
in Lymphoma (Hodgkin and Non-Hodgkin) #1

First-time poster...thanks in advance for any advice/sharing of own experiences.

Otherwise healthy 36 year old male when diagnosed with stage 4 (bulky) DLBCL in Feb, 2020.  Received 6 session of R-CHOP.  CR in June, 2020.

My 6 month month scan was clean.  Just got results from 1 year scan yesterday which was also clean, but a note at end said "stable minimal pelvic ascites".  The person (via phone call) going over results with me was not my regular doctor and was unsure of what the pelvic fluid could be from, but seemed unconcerned.  Google info is kind of all over the place, but usually refers to females when discussing pelvic fluid (I am male).  It does not seem to be a big deal (it was noted as stable, which I assume means it has not chnaged since last scan, although it was not noted on last scan).  Just wondering if anyone had this finding on their scan...

 

Thanks

Dante

Comments

  • po18guy
    po18guy Member Posts: 1,505 Member
    edited June 2021 #2
    Sorry to hear this.

    Would you have known if not for the report? Radiologists can be alarmists, as they must note every detail that is different from the "Mr. Perfect" wall chart in doctor's office. Is there a chance that you might have had this before diagnosis? Before treatment? Did you have any tumors in the area? If it was there before, has been stable and is otherwise asymptomatic, then I would not be concerned either. I would avoid Google, as it is a mortician and not a doctor, if you get my drift.

  • Dante S
    Dante S Member Posts: 15 Member
    edited June 2021 #3
    Thank you for the reply...

    Thank you for the reply....and you're right about Google, it's always trying to kill me.

  • ShadyGuy
    ShadyGuy Member Posts: 922 Member
    #4
    Google

    Try a different search engine. Google is poison and you only see sites that pay them. I use DuckDuckGo but there are others that do not track you. Google tracks and knows your history. They know your shopping history and surfing history and base your results on that.

  • lindary
    lindary Member Posts: 711 Member
    #5
    google

    I tended to use Chrome but I also had to be careful on how I worded my search. As had been said, often results are of a negative nature.  I will admit that in doing some search I did encounter some info that was helpful to me. The post I stumble on the person was saying that they found it better to start the bowel softener the night before chemo instead of 'the day of'. It was a big help for me.

     

  • NurseNatalie
    NurseNatalie Member Posts: 1
    #6
    What I would do

    Dante,

    How about reviewing the scan with your regular doc? Might give you some peace of mind :)

  • ShadyGuy
    ShadyGuy Member Posts: 922 Member
    #7
    NurseNatalie said:

    What I would do

    Dante,

    How about reviewing the scan with your regular doc? Might give you some peace of mind :)

    You are right …

    but that is only one source. I have found the doctors, radiologists in particular, to be all over the board. Best to consult several. You may be shocked at the different readings different doctors have from the same CT data. I know I was. My reports showed inaccuracies and evidence of cut and paste from other people's reports. CT data generally goes into a pool with the docs often working from home on a laptop which does not have adequate screen resolution. Whoever grabs it first does the job. Almost never get the same doc twice. Its a 10-minute job for which they make several hundred dollars. Both Duke and MD Anderson wanted only my raw data and had no interest in the original radiologist reports. At Duke I said here is the CD can you print my radiologists report? They had no interest and did their own report by looking at the CD. Just saying.

  • Dante S
    Dante S Member Posts: 15 Member
    edited June 2021 #8
    ShadyGuy said:

    You are right …

    but that is only one source. I have found the doctors, radiologists in particular, to be all over the board. Best to consult several. You may be shocked at the different readings different doctors have from the same CT data. I know I was. My reports showed inaccuracies and evidence of cut and paste from other people's reports. CT data generally goes into a pool with the docs often working from home on a laptop which does not have adequate screen resolution. Whoever grabs it first does the job. Almost never get the same doc twice. Its a 10-minute job for which they make several hundred dollars. Both Duke and MD Anderson wanted only my raw data and had no interest in the original radiologist reports. At Duke I said here is the CD can you print my radiologists report? They had no interest and did their own report by looking at the CD. Just saying.

    Yes, Mistakes Can Happen

    You are right about reports not always being accurately written up...a few years ago my dad was having some stomach issues and went in for some scans....scan reports from two different doctors noted a normally functioning appendix (odd finding considering he had his removed about 50 years earlier)

  • ShadyGuy
    ShadyGuy Member Posts: 922 Member
    edited June 2021 #9
    Dante S said:

    Yes, Mistakes Can Happen

    You are right about reports not always being accurately written up...a few years ago my dad was having some stomach issues and went in for some scans....scan reports from two different doctors noted a normally functioning appendix (odd finding considering he had his removed about 50 years earlier)

    Mistakes in radiology are very common

    Its a money game with no accountability and no oversight. About 1 year ago I was in hospital and wheeled down for a CT at 3 AM. It was a CT of the abdomen without contrast. The Radiologist report said contrast was given intravenously and literally gave a report both with and without contrast. He had obviously cut and pasted someoneone elses report. Same for an MRI on my back. It was obvious he was talking about someone else, not me. What can be done about that? nothing. I even reported that I was charged for a CT with contrast but no contrast was administered. No reply. Also the NCI recommends all of a cancer patient's CTs be read by the same radiologist for consistency. Good luck with that! I never get the same one twice.

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