PET Scans question

grandma2selena
grandma2selena Member Posts: 199
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
I know truly only my Onc can answer my actual question but my husband and I are really wondering what to do here.

Anyway my question is how often have you guys/gals had PET scans...especially those who are NED?

We might have an opportunity for my husband to go back to work with his old company, which would provide us with the BETTER medical insurance, but the down side is we would have to move to a new State. We are just trying to figure out if the cost of the move will be better then the out-of-pocket expenses we will be faced with the insurance we have been offered by this new company.

Thanks
Debbie

Comments

  • Nana b
    Nana b Member Posts: 3,030 Member
    #2
    Insurance
    The cost of one chemo treatment would really hurt my pocket book if I had to pay for it all myself....with this deaseae, I would go for insurance. I believe it's 63 days that you can go with a lapse in coverage before pre-existing falls into place. FYI

    My ONC informed me that after Chemo was done, I woud have scans about every 4 months. A colonoscopy every 6 months.

    Good luck with your decision. Moving is never easy, but if the new place is not around the corner, chances are that it's tax deductible.
  • NWGirl
    NWGirl Member Posts: 122 Member
    #3
    No PET since original DX
    I'm a stage 3C - finished chemo September 2008. My oncologist does blood work and a CT scan on me every 3 months. If I make it a year w/o a reccurrence, we may go to every 6 months. The only PET scan I had was at my initial diagnosis - right after my colonoscopy. Since then I've only had CT scans.

    I had a colonoscopy after finishing treatment and since the surgeon found 1 flat polyp, I will have another one a year later. If I have a clean scope next time, I can wait 2 years before my next scope.
  • grandma2selena
    grandma2selena Member Posts: 199
    #4
    NWGirl said:

    No PET since original DX
    I'm a stage 3C - finished chemo September 2008. My oncologist does blood work and a CT scan on me every 3 months. If I make it a year w/o a reccurrence, we may go to every 6 months. The only PET scan I had was at my initial diagnosis - right after my colonoscopy. Since then I've only had CT scans.

    I had a colonoscopy after finishing treatment and since the surgeon found 1 flat polyp, I will have another one a year later. If I have a clean scope next time, I can wait 2 years before my next scope.

    PET
    I have now had 2 PET scans done. At time of DX and at my first 3 month mark. I only had one CT scan and that was at the beginning. Like I said I will have to talk to my Onc. but I think he is going to be one that will require PET scans on a regular basis, especially since I was told I won't need another Colonoscopy for 3 years unless they find something further.

    No matter how we look at it the insurance we have is crap...we are still looking at moving, my husband has already contacted his ex-employer and we are waiting for our attorney to get back from vacation as we need court approval to move our granddaughter out-of-state. We will just see how it goes from there.

    Debbie
  • Annabelle41415
    Annabelle41415 Member Posts: 6,742 Member
    #5
    grandma2selena said:

    PET
    I have now had 2 PET scans done. At time of DX and at my first 3 month mark. I only had one CT scan and that was at the beginning. Like I said I will have to talk to my Onc. but I think he is going to be one that will require PET scans on a regular basis, especially since I was told I won't need another Colonoscopy for 3 years unless they find something further.

    No matter how we look at it the insurance we have is crap...we are still looking at moving, my husband has already contacted his ex-employer and we are waiting for our attorney to get back from vacation as we need court approval to move our granddaughter out-of-state. We will just see how it goes from there.

    Debbie

    Only CT Scan
    I was diagnosed in December and have only had the initial CT scan in December and then another one in February and there has been no mention of it since. I'm not sure if the doctor is waiting for my chemo to get done, but I told her my insurance rates are going way up and I want port and everything else done before it does change. I've heard that different types or locations of cancer of the colon/rectum CT scans are not done every 3 months, but I'm just doing what they tell me.

    Kim
  • serrana
    serrana Member Posts: 163 Member
    #6
    PET Scans
    The insurance issue is major..... I would worry about the possibility of a recurrence that required surgery or chemo more than worrying about the cost of scans ( which is really huge itself) My chemo Folfiri/avastin was charged by USC Norris Cancer Center to Medicare at $20,000 per infusion. Yep that is twenty thousand dollars per time for 12 rounds Two hundred forty thousand dollars for 6 months of chemo. I am shocked at this. Of course Medicare and insurance companies never pay the billed amount because they have discounted contracts with providers but patients often pay much more if they have no or poor insurance; but if I were you I'd look for insurance with the least cost sharing by the insured.
    My treatment already has cost about a million dollars in two and a half years but I have medicare and chose a Blue Shield supplement policy that pays the entire bill.Another way that insurance companies get out of paying, expecially HMOs is to just deny procedures. Not good.Please don't get an HMO; a PPO is where you want to be if you have had cancer. Read the fine print and choose carefully. Hopefully you'll never need to use it.
    Serrana
  • grandma2selena
    grandma2selena Member Posts: 199
    #7
    serrana said:

    PET Scans
    The insurance issue is major..... I would worry about the possibility of a recurrence that required surgery or chemo more than worrying about the cost of scans ( which is really huge itself) My chemo Folfiri/avastin was charged by USC Norris Cancer Center to Medicare at $20,000 per infusion. Yep that is twenty thousand dollars per time for 12 rounds Two hundred forty thousand dollars for 6 months of chemo. I am shocked at this. Of course Medicare and insurance companies never pay the billed amount because they have discounted contracts with providers but patients often pay much more if they have no or poor insurance; but if I were you I'd look for insurance with the least cost sharing by the insured.
    My treatment already has cost about a million dollars in two and a half years but I have medicare and chose a Blue Shield supplement policy that pays the entire bill.Another way that insurance companies get out of paying, expecially HMOs is to just deny procedures. Not good.Please don't get an HMO; a PPO is where you want to be if you have had cancer. Read the fine print and choose carefully. Hopefully you'll never need to use it.
    Serrana

    PPO
    Our new insurance is PPO, but they still have to pre-authorize all treatment. PPO doesn't always assure anything more then HMO, it depends on the plan that is bought into. Of course husband's employer or new employer bought into the cheapest plan they could. I know the exact amount my treatment cost as I kept all that information, and believe me we have taken that into consideration.

    We are waiting for our attorney to get back from vacation as we can not move our granddaughter without court approval. We have already missed one job, there are others but we really don't want to move that far South.
  • lesvanb
    lesvanb Member Posts: 905
    #8
    Pet scan schedule
    I was diagnosed stage 4 with one met to the liver which was resectable upon diagnosis. I ahad a PET/CT at the very beginning and will have one 3 months after the end of my chemo so coming up in august. the PET is for another baseline after the year's treatment, then CT scans every 3 months for next 2 years and then reevaluate.

    Leslie

    PS I'm very grateful for the insurance I have which is decent and has paid close to half a million to date, but we would be filing for bankrupcty if we hadn't had savings to live on while we went through this and neither of us could work that much.

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