PET scan
I'm six years out from double mastectomy for IDC and recently had an ultrasound for a pain on the cancer side which turned out to be benign, actually they couldn't find anything and think its muscular. Now it still hurts and went back to the dr. and he wants me to have a PET scan. I am terrified! Should i have just accepted that its muscular or go through a PET scan. Would a recurrence show up and where would it be. I was node negative at the time of my diagnoisis. Having a breakdown and going down the rabbit hole with this one rather quickly! I still take letrozole. Thanks for any advice on navigating the first PET.
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Hey Mudd congrats on your scan!! So do you or any one knows how do you know if you have nodes benign or malignant? I am 3 yr s/p Rt mastectomy, no chemo, no radiation, just hormone blocker meds and injections. I just had an MRI. And a few months later an Ultrasound. The MRI showed 2 nodes, measuring (approx.) 0.8 x 0.6cm or there about they are not too big. But now in the Ultrasound they found 2 more for a total of 4 at least, and when the radiologist wanted to show them to me, he could not find them, they are moving around. I don’t Know what it means and perhaps you. Or someone in this chat knows?
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@mudd having the scan will not change anything that's happening in your body. It will either put your mind at ease (hopefully!!) or get you started on the right treatment. PET scans (injection, wait/rest, scan) are easy and should show any active cancer. The hardest part is the worrying and waiting - which you're already doing. I'd go ahead with it.
Best of luck to you.
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mudd,
I agree 100% with seeq. Not having a PET doesn’t make whatever it is, if it’s anything at all, go away. The procedure itself is quite easy and painless. As to where a recurrence might show up, that’s what the scan will reveal (if there is anything to reveal) . Node negative is good but cancer cells can travel through the bloodstream as well. This is not to scare you but I think it’s really important for us to know and understand how things work with bc, because that allows you to make decisions based on facts not fear. Knowledge really is power 😊
anmydw,
Mudd has not had a PET yet so maybe hold off on the congrats. I don’t know the answer to your question but perhaps starting your own thread with a title addressing your concerns would yield some responses.
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Just to add a PET scan is not noisy like an MRI. It’s very quiet and you show up at whatever time you get an injection. You wait an hour they do the scan and you go home and then you wait Id do it just to make sure that nothing lights up.
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