To scan or not, that is the question!
Hi lovely ladies. I’m seeing my oncologist tomorrow for chemo and radiation regime. I asked him about getting a PET scan before and he advised it could give false positives and doesn’t recommend. It’...
Forum Discussion
I think most of us tussle with this question. I have asked many questions around it, the most recent being why my BS doesn't use an ultrasound when I have a check up with him.
I think I read somewhere here that it takes a million breast cancer cells before anything is visible. Our technology isn't perfect, we just have to make do with what we've got. For now. And living in perpetual fear from one scan to the next can be horrible. Ask anyone with a Stage 4 diagnosis.
However there is hope, technology is improving all the time. The recent discovery of blood markers means the scientists are refining these tests all the time. At a BC conference I attended on Friday one of the presenters said they need to get them more sophisticated to be accurately useful. Another 20% I think she said.
Some oncologists are happy to give a baseline scan to relieve anxiety I believe. There can be so many false positives that this can be risky for one's mental health. Only you can know which path you can live with.
I was having rib pain last year so my BS sent me for my first ever CT. It showed nothing in the ribs but something on my liver. So I was referred for an ultrasound, which cleared me of liver worry (polyps) but found something on my gall bladder. It's unclear what that is and it's too small to be biopsied, so I have to monitor it with regular US scans. The first one is next Monday.
Now all this has not worried me overly much; I'm not stressed by it. I'm glad I had a scan because that meant the gall bladder issue was detected. If it does turn out to be cancer it will have been discovered early and able to be dealt with. It's highly unlikely to be (three in every 100,000 people in Australia) but with my luck, you never know!
It's going to be about knowing yourself and how you'll respond if anything is picked up. All the best, K xox
I think I read somewhere here that it takes a million breast cancer cells before anything is visible. Our technology isn't perfect, we just have to make do with what we've got. For now. And living in perpetual fear from one scan to the next can be horrible. Ask anyone with a Stage 4 diagnosis.
However there is hope, technology is improving all the time. The recent discovery of blood markers means the scientists are refining these tests all the time. At a BC conference I attended on Friday one of the presenters said they need to get them more sophisticated to be accurately useful. Another 20% I think she said.
Some oncologists are happy to give a baseline scan to relieve anxiety I believe. There can be so many false positives that this can be risky for one's mental health. Only you can know which path you can live with.
I was having rib pain last year so my BS sent me for my first ever CT. It showed nothing in the ribs but something on my liver. So I was referred for an ultrasound, which cleared me of liver worry (polyps) but found something on my gall bladder. It's unclear what that is and it's too small to be biopsied, so I have to monitor it with regular US scans. The first one is next Monday.
Now all this has not worried me overly much; I'm not stressed by it. I'm glad I had a scan because that meant the gall bladder issue was detected. If it does turn out to be cancer it will have been discovered early and able to be dealt with. It's highly unlikely to be (three in every 100,000 people in Australia) but with my luck, you never know!
It's going to be about knowing yourself and how you'll respond if anything is picked up. All the best, K xox