PET scan leading to more tests

soblest6
soblest6 Member Posts: 12
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
Hi, I don't know if I have posted on here before, my memory is horrible. Anyway, I had Stage 3 ductal ca, diagnosed in June of 2008, bilateral mast., chemo and radiation which was completed in Feb 09. I just had a PET scan last week. It showed increased metabolic activity in the tonsilar area, which is likely inflammatory but they could not rule out a neoplastic process. My onco says she isn't too worried about it, but I am going to have an endoscopic procedure at the ENT. My throat is not sore, tonsils not swollen, etc. This is about my 7th PET and this is the first time it has had vague results. Has anyone ever heard of mets to the tonsil area? This is not lymph nodes, its inside the oropharynx. I really feel silly even worrying about it. Could this be anything significant?

Comments

  • Katz77
    Katz77 Member Posts: 598
    #2
    Ahhh breast cancer!!!!!
    Sorry, haven't heard of it moving to tonsil area. A friend of mine who had ovarian cancer, hers went to her gallbladder. Guess those nasty little buggar cells can go wherever they want. Tonsils are like lymph nodes. They "catch" bacteria. So you may have some allergry type thingy going on. Tonsils don't always produce the classic symptoms. Kind of like our cancers, we react and have different experiences. Go to the ENT and let them have a look and go from there. It sucks being " spooky" all the time over the things we wouldn't have given 2 thoughts to in the past. Sometimes I feel like a whiney baby telling them about my boo boo. lol The ca center is always there for you and def follow up on it. I hope that ur tonsils are just irritated from drainage. Good luck and keep us posted. Positive energy and hugs headed ur way. Katz
    P.S. I, too had IDC stage3 with 18/20 nodes. When is ur Drs appt.?
  • Cindy Bear
    Cindy Bear Member Posts: 569 Member
    #3
    Hi
    Hi. I've never heard of BC moving to the tonsils either but as we all know cancer doesn't follow the rules. It's very creative and thinks outside the box.. it sounds like your onc. isn't too worried about it and I do know that you can have alot of false positives with any test. It's probably just inflammation or infection of some kind. Did they say what your SUV nos. were? That's how they measure metabolic activity. It stands for standard uptake volume and the theory is the more active cells (like cancer) will uptake more of the radioactive glucose solution. They then measure this uptake. My mother's onc. (uterine cancer) compared it to a geiger counter and said anything over 2.7 is most likely malignancy. Did they tell you what your SUV no. was? Well it's most likely nothing. Good luck and let us know how things go.
  • soblest6
    soblest6 Member Posts: 12
    #4
    Katz77 said:

    Ahhh breast cancer!!!!!
    Sorry, haven't heard of it moving to tonsil area. A friend of mine who had ovarian cancer, hers went to her gallbladder. Guess those nasty little buggar cells can go wherever they want. Tonsils are like lymph nodes. They "catch" bacteria. So you may have some allergry type thingy going on. Tonsils don't always produce the classic symptoms. Kind of like our cancers, we react and have different experiences. Go to the ENT and let them have a look and go from there. It sucks being " spooky" all the time over the things we wouldn't have given 2 thoughts to in the past. Sometimes I feel like a whiney baby telling them about my boo boo. lol The ca center is always there for you and def follow up on it. I hope that ur tonsils are just irritated from drainage. Good luck and keep us posted. Positive energy and hugs headed ur way. Katz
    P.S. I, too had IDC stage3 with 18/20 nodes. When is ur Drs appt.?

    Spooked!
    Go to ENT on Thursday. I had ALL my med bills finally paid, now I owe 1200 for the PET and no telling how much for the ENT. I really dont care about the money, but I have 6 kids and I want a VACATION! I want a VACATION, not a doctors appointment.

    BTW, I had 33 ln's removed, 11 were positive. I work in radiology, in breast care. When I saw all those enlarged lymph nodes, I knew I was in trouble...KC
  • soblest6
    soblest6 Member Posts: 12
    #5
    Cindy Bear said:

    Hi
    Hi. I've never heard of BC moving to the tonsils either but as we all know cancer doesn't follow the rules. It's very creative and thinks outside the box.. it sounds like your onc. isn't too worried about it and I do know that you can have alot of false positives with any test. It's probably just inflammation or infection of some kind. Did they say what your SUV nos. were? That's how they measure metabolic activity. It stands for standard uptake volume and the theory is the more active cells (like cancer) will uptake more of the radioactive glucose solution. They then measure this uptake. My mother's onc. (uterine cancer) compared it to a geiger counter and said anything over 2.7 is most likely malignancy. Did they tell you what your SUV no. was? Well it's most likely nothing. Good luck and let us know how things go.

    Yikes!
    I just re-read the report. It says right area uptake greater than left, and intake on right is SUV of 8.
  • Katz77
    Katz77 Member Posts: 598
    #6
    soblest6 said:

    Spooked!
    Go to ENT on Thursday. I had ALL my med bills finally paid, now I owe 1200 for the PET and no telling how much for the ENT. I really dont care about the money, but I have 6 kids and I want a VACATION! I want a VACATION, not a doctors appointment.

    BTW, I had 33 ln's removed, 11 were positive. I work in radiology, in breast care. When I saw all those enlarged lymph nodes, I knew I was in trouble...KC

    Man
    I, too work in the medical field. Work in surgery as a scrub, also work w anethesia. I watched my tumor take off. Grew from a 1cm to a 5.3 in 2 months. It was high on my chest. Though various reasons, grandson born. One Dr wanting to send me to Az, getting set up w the Dr. I wanted in the first place. His dad died in a helicopter crash. Sounds funny now.
    I've helped my Dr. do surgery on women that had their mastectomy. Pretty weird. I'm not bothered to much by this. I try to comfort some of them and let them know, been there, done that. Guess you do the same.
    Wow 6 kids. That's amazing. Are they still little or grown? You are super woman to me. I had three, all grown now, so just take care of me and my husband. I have a great respect for all the women who still have kids at home. Esp hard work. So Thurs. Let me know how it goes. I haven't had any tests yet. Approaching 1 yr anniversary, 6/23. Have onc appt. this Wed, so guess I'll be testing away soon.
    Good luck. Sorry I have a tendacy to babble. lol
  • Katz77
    Katz77 Member Posts: 598
    #7
    soblest6 said:

    Yikes!
    I just re-read the report. It says right area uptake greater than left, and intake on right is SUV of 8.

    Can you say
    TONSILLECTOMY. Hugsss!! It WILL be ok. Don't panic yet. False positives can and do happen. Please let us know. Katz
  • carkris
    carkris Member Posts: 4,553 Member
    #8
    Katz77 said:

    Can you say
    TONSILLECTOMY. Hugsss!! It WILL be ok. Don't panic yet. False positives can and do happen. Please let us know. Katz

    sounds very strange to me
    sounds very strange to me never heard of it going there.
  • Ritzy
    Ritzy Member Posts: 4,381 Member
    #9
    Katz77 said:

    Ahhh breast cancer!!!!!
    Sorry, haven't heard of it moving to tonsil area. A friend of mine who had ovarian cancer, hers went to her gallbladder. Guess those nasty little buggar cells can go wherever they want. Tonsils are like lymph nodes. They "catch" bacteria. So you may have some allergry type thingy going on. Tonsils don't always produce the classic symptoms. Kind of like our cancers, we react and have different experiences. Go to the ENT and let them have a look and go from there. It sucks being " spooky" all the time over the things we wouldn't have given 2 thoughts to in the past. Sometimes I feel like a whiney baby telling them about my boo boo. lol The ca center is always there for you and def follow up on it. I hope that ur tonsils are just irritated from drainage. Good luck and keep us posted. Positive energy and hugs headed ur way. Katz
    P.S. I, too had IDC stage3 with 18/20 nodes. When is ur Drs appt.?

    No, I haven't heard of it.
    No, I haven't heard of it. But, want to wish you good luck. Please let us know what your doctor says.

    Sue :)

Discussion Boards