Stewsbetty wrote:So I went for my followup appointment with the oncologist today. My last chemo was one month ago and my CT was done a week ago. I was fully expecting to hear the hurrah! You are done! What I got was unexpected and a little confusing. I had 2 suspicious lymph nodes after surgery and we have been watching them all along. They have shrunk - which I have always taken as good news. However the oncologist wants me to have a PET scan. Now, to all of you Americans that might not seem like a big deal, but I live in BC, Canada and there is only one PET scan location in the whole province. 8 hour drive from where I live. He wants to see whether the nodes were or are cancerous and possibly have surgery to remove them. I was completely taken aback. Never once during treatment did any of the Drs mention this possibility. At my last appointment while still on chemo I was told for follow up I would have bloodwork every three months and a CT once a year. Oh and a colonoscopy at my 1 year diagnosis date.
Anyway, I am not really worried - there were no mets found on lungs or liver - just surprised at the situation. I had thought it was all over but now another test and possibly more surgery. Kind of confusing all round for me.
Beth
I was in the same boat as you. One lymph node lit up on my original PET but was too close to my spine to be removed during surgery. I was told up front we would check it when everything was done. I had a "then what," conversation at one point. I was told we would need a biopsy because inflammation can also cause alymph node to light up, so it may not even be cancer. If it was cancer, there were several options including Gamma knife, since surgery was out of the question (they said).
I learned all this at diagnosis. This was all very scary, but I decided to believe it would get zapped by the chemo and radiation and be clear. So, I finish treatment and we tried to schedule a PET to check it. I live in America. Insurance denied it. My Onc did an appeal. They still denied it after he explained why we need it. Really? I was so frustrated because a CT would not have shown anything since it was never enlarged. I asked about getting an MRI since I had heard some were getting MRIs instead of PETs if there was no lymph node involvement. He said an MRI was as accurate as a PET (thank god for this board!). So we finally did an MRI of pelvis and abdomen (to make sure peritoneum was clear also), and I was so happy to finally learn it was all clear.
Hang in there!