Scan post treatment - YES OR NO???
My mum had stage three triple negative breast cancer. She had a mastectomy in December last year, 6 months of aggressive chemotherapy followed by a course of radiotherapy. Besides having a bone scan when first diagnosed she has not had any other scan. Her oncologist stated she does not find a scan post treatment useful. Instead mum will rotate between seeing the oncologist and the surgeon every four months. Basically she waits and see if she develops any symptoms. In theory I can understand why a scan may show false positives and unnecessary tests and stress however I believe Mum feels she has had no closure after her course of treatment and is just waiting for a tumour to pop up somewhere? She has not had any "markers" taken - unsure of the terminology. I was hoping to get some feedback on whether I should encourage her to push for more tests - or hear from others as to whether scans etc created more stress and worry than they were worth.
Two days ago my life changed forever
Hi everyone, just hoping to reach out and seek some advice at a time that my life feels completely out of control on two levels. Two days ago, my (very recent) fiance and I arrived home from our long awaited overseas holiday. We'd been scrimping and saving for this trip, and had the most fantastic time. Although exhausted and jet laggy, we were so excited to see everyone and celebrate our engagement. My younger sister had asked to come see me when I got home, and although not feeling too crash hot I was excited to see her. She walked in the door and I could see something was very very wrong. My 31 year old sister then proceeded to tell me she has been diagnosed with Stage 2 Breast Cancer. She and the immediate family had known for about a week but she didn't want to ruin the last few days of my holiday so waited to tell me until I was home. We have a strong family history so breast cancer is not new to us, but the last thing I ever expected was for my baby sister to have a diagnosis so early on. The last few days have been a really strange surreal experience. I was so glad to be able to go to her appointment with her where they talked about a plan of action, and there is some strength in having a plan for moving forward. My number one priority is for my sister to get healthy and well again, although she has a challenging 6 months ahead of her. I am going to do my best to support her through her journey but where I am feeling extra terrified is with my sisters diagnosis, alongside my mum who had breast cancer 5 years back (5 years clear woo hoo!!!! :)) all the doctors are now a lot more concerned about me and are suggesting if my sister's gene testing comes back positive, I should also get gene tested and if that comes back positive then I'll have some decisions to make. So I'm all messed up about my baby sister facing this battle, but then alongside that also worried about what will happen to my side of the things, and feel completely helpless as these things take time, so I just have to sit and wait... and wait... and wait..... I just really appreciate finding this forum and appreciate any advice anyone can give. I also hope as this journey goes on, I'll be able to help others and contribute. Much love to all xx