No Bone Scan??

jeancmici said:

I had the same diagnosis and treatment as you with one node positive. I have never had a bone scan. I finished my radiation on Sept. 24-01 - operated on Jan 2 -01. That pretty much took care of 2001! Tamoxifen I started on 9/27/01 for 5 years.

I will not get a bone scan unless I have symptoms and/or I demand one. But this is not an insurance issue - it is medical protocol - the latest care advisories follow our treatment so I guess I would say "Relax". I know - easier said than done! :-)

banker said:

I am a 2 time survivor of BC, both times node neg.,stage 1, ER neg. In both cases my doctor recommended a bone scan. I am glad he did. I am sure each doctor feels different about this. My scans were done about 2 mo after chemo ended. Hope this helps. Take care Emmi

pebbles said:

Hi, My name is Chloe Ann and you are wondering about No Bone Scan. So am I, not for me but for you. I was diagnosed 15 years ago with Stage 11 Breast Cancer and after my surgery, I elected to have a mastectomy, a bone scan was done, and the following year another one was also done. I, like you, had one lymph node positive out of 19 removed. A bone scan was done after I recovered from my surgery (I elected to have a mastectomy) and another one was done one year later. After that, if I complained of a problem that might suggest bone cancer, scans were also done then. Twice if I am correct. After the first two scans the doctor stopped the routine scans and watched the bones through the blood work. An oncologist can do that. Even though I only had one node that was positive, the bone scans and also one liver scan was done as a routine. In your position, I would want a bone scan done, if only to ease my mind. This was 15 years ago, and perhaps things have changed, but I always prefer being safe rather than sorry. I suppose I could have refused, but then it was standard procedure even with only one node positive. Five years later I found a BB sized tumor in the other breast, it was not positive, but I insisted upon a second mastectomy because I had Fibro Cystics Disease and the mammogram could not see even a large tumor. Doctors are not happy when the patient asks for a second mastectomy, since I knew that a mammogram was worthless to me. After much discussion a second mastectomy was done (a simple mastectomy). I was treated with Chemotherapy, since I had decided on the surgery and did have one positive node. The second surgery revealed nothing, but did help to relieve my mind. I have been told, by other doctors, that I am alive today because I had the best there was. Fifteen years is a long time, and I am sure procedures have changed, but if no bone scan is done, who pays if something is wrong? You do. It would seem to me that, if you want the scan done to make you feel better, it should be the obligation of that doctor to arrange for it to be done. It is a very simple procedure, takes a few hours, since you have to drink a lot for a certain length of time, and they do inject a non reactive dye in, some hours before the scan is done. My doctor was not happy doing the second mastectomy, but due to the history of the first cancer, I was within my right to ask for it. You have that same right. If your are uncomfortable tell the doctor, and if he refuses find one that will do it. This has always been a test I dreaded with every thing in my body, but when the results come back negative, the sense of relief is greater than most people can imagine. I was also treated with Tamoxifen for seven years (now they would probably stop it after five year.) It is used if you are found to be estrogen positive (your body likes estrogen to grow cancer.) The drug stops the body from making estrogen. I had already had a hysterectomy, so I was not making estrogen that way, but other things do make it too. If it is an insurance thing, as you think, a doctor can get around that, because it is his obligation to protect you, and your obligation to get the best help you can. I can see that this is on your mind, and you are not comfortable. Every cancer patient has this feeling, you are not alone. You are never alone. I have had two mastectomies and l5 years have past. The doctor will not call a cure for me until 20 years have past. Once again, you are uncomfortable with your care, if he is right that is wonderful, if he is wrong, you pay and I feel that too many women have already paid with their lives. Listen to your doctor, but always follow your feelings, get what you feel you need. Put things out in front of you to live for, I lived to see my daughter graduate college, I lived to see both my children married, and to dance at my daughter's wedding. I have lived to be a grandmother, now I live to make a memory. Remember it is OK to laugh, right in the face of your illness, a sense of humor is a necessity and can be found. Remember too that everyone does not die, we live to see the sun rise each day. You are not alone, there are a lot of us, always willing to extend a hand in friendship and love. Where you are going many of us have already been there and done that, and we are still here. Get what you want and feel you need, you can even stomp your foot, you are allowed, we are a very big group. Look around you, we are there. My very best wishes to you. Chloe Ann