Why am I having to wait for a follow up pet scan in 3 months?!
Question: Why am I having to wait for a follow up pet scan in 3 months!?
Had pet scan done 4/23 results on 4/25 dr told me I have secondary breast cancer in sacral vertebre, but can't start treatment until I have another pet in 3 months because that is what the pet people recommend does this have to do with insuranceWww@Answer-Health@Com
Answers:
In general !. !. the PET and CT can only record 'changes' in the body !. !.and it often takes 3 months for cancer to grow large enough to detect or to respond to treatment!. So a scan is done every 3 months to measure cancer growth or shrinkage!. Sometimes with aggressive cancers the CT or PET will be done sooner !. !. at 6 to 8 weeks !. !. but than you run the risk of the disease not being big enough to detect !. !.than you need to wait another 6 to 8 weeks and the cancer can grow more during this time!. It is a diagnostic tool only !. !. and much depends on catching the cancer image at the 'right' time!. (with PET sometimes if there is only residual disease !. !.it will not 'light' up !. !. and you again will need to wait)!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
No, not insurance!. How often, in ones opinion, does a person need one!? Sixty to ninety days is more than frequent enough to show any change that may have occured!. The scans are not therapy!. Just informational!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
I have to get pet scans pretty much every 3 months or a little more than three months!. It maybe the insurance!. I am going to ask my doctor that question as well!. I am sorry about your secondary cancer!. I am getting an MRI done on Tuesday, because the Pet scan was inconclusive in one area!. I will keep my fingers crossed for both of us!. God Bless!.Www@Answer-Health@Com