FOLLOW UP TESTING AFTER 2 YEARS

corey50
corey50 Member Posts: 111
edited March 2014 in Kidney Cancer #1
hi everybody,
this dec. will be 2 years since my radical nephrectomy for stage 1 chromophobe rcc.
every 6 months since then i've had blood work and ct scan of the chest, abdomen and pelvis.
my 6 month scan is coming up in 2 weeks. GOD willing every goes ok. my dr's.,urologist and oncologist (i had breast cancer 5 years ago so i still see an oncologist) say i can go to one year for testing. with a chest xray and ultrasound taking the place of the ct scan.
reason being reducing exposure to radiation from ct also contrast can be a problem with one kidney.
although i do know the dangers of too much radiation and the contrast, i'm also scared to switch to the other tests which are not as sensitive and might miss something. also waiting 12 months seems like a long time to go in between tests.
what have you guys done(stage 1) for testing after 2 years, after 5 years? any advice will help.
thank you and God bless and good health.

Comments

  • icemantoo
    icemantoo Member Posts: 3,361 Member
    #2
    Follow up
    While the doctors have guidelines for follow up they tailor each patient's follow up to their individual situation. As far as the contrast the doctor requires a bun and creatin blood test to make sure the levels are a certain level that will not cause problems with the contrast. Those of us with one kidney have borderline or abnormal levels on the tests and if they are too abnormal they can not use the contrast. As far as waiting a year one of the things they look for is evidence of cysts or tumors in the other kidney and these show up and grow vary slowly.Your other pboblems no doubt weigh in your individual followup. After the first year my follow up was once a year and my surgery was on 8.1.02.

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