Why Are My Tests And Scans Useless?

Hello,

 From a biopsy I have been diagnosed with adenocarcinoma in the colon.  I had surgery to remove it and at that time it was found that 4 of 21 lymoh nodes were infected.  

 However, prior to surgery, my CT scan just showed a 3.5 cm mass and no lymph involvement, my PET scan didnt show anything at all, and my CEA blood test came back 0.5, well within normal.

 Is that normal for these scans to come back like this, and if so, how can anyone tell if you are really cancer free when they look at these?

 thanks

 Traveler001

 

 

 

We have the same questions here.  My mom was diagnosed with stomach cancer Nov 06 has had every scan you can think of (CT, PET MUGA).  All the scans showed that the cancer had not spread and she had surgery to remove her stomach in Mar 07.  Several nodes removed during surgery showed cancer.  She has since gone through more chemo and on Monday she had another PET scan and tomorrow we find out the results.  Not sure if I feel we will ge an accurate reading.  If they do not find anything I will still have this uneasy feeling since nothing showed up on the previous scans.