EC CT Scan

I've read in a few of the e-mails on this board that a couple of you have had CT scans this this week.  My husband's 18 month post-chemo scan is today with a followup visit with his oncologist scheduled for next Thurs.  Wishing everyone great results and looking forward to posts of good news!

Maria

Good luck on the CT and great results "NED". I had mine yesterday and will pickup the report this afternoon to take to my oncology Doctor Monday. Again, give my best to the husband.  Phil A.

Thanks Phil.  My husband has to wait until next Thurs. to see his oncologist and to get the results.   The way his office works is that a CT scan is scheduled and the following week an appointment is scheduled to go over the results.  I'm not sure if he would be contacted before that time if the results showed anything.   So far I feel really optimistic about the outcome.  I think the passage of time has helped to calm my nerves. 

Maria

MariaL, I picked up my CT results and was not to pleased with the findings. I have had two nodules on both lungs for the past eight months with no changes and now the report from the VA hospital who will be monitering my followup states that one nodule is 6mm and previously was less than 3mm. The VA had no reports or CD's to compare them too, so its not 100% yet and if I find out they measured incorrectly some heads will roll. I am still schedule for a CT in August at the original hospital that did the surgery but do not care for the follow up Doctor there. The CT also pointed out a shoulder problem which I knew happened in surgery but cannot prove it. I will wait until Monday and let my oncologist determine what is next if their is reoccurance or not. I hate Fridays when you receive bad news.  Phil A.

Hi Phil

Was it a CT or PET/CT? Sounds like it is growing slowly...not what you wanted to hear, but slowly is better than quickly and that is still very small. We have done the lung spots a bunch now, and at 6 mm on a CT I know Pat's oncologist would be talking treatment to get it before it gets going. We have resolved lung mets several times when they have been small.

We had success with lung mets with the cisplatin, irinotecan, docetaxel infusion regimen. The most recent bout responded to Oxaliplatin and epirubicin via infusion/push and oral Xeloda. Pat has a port which makes the chemo easier to deliver when he needs to treat. He also had some hydration issues during treatment and the port makes that a lot easier since access is difficult when someone dries out.

Good luck. Stay positive. You will beat this!

Tongrenhealer, I had a CT and tried to give the tech at the radiology dept copies of my written and CD disc but he said hold on to them. Well I called the VA radiology dept. and complained to the Supv. there who turned out to be the one that did not want the info that I had with me. He immediately said we will except the reports and I requested a copy of the new CT report and CD to take to my oncology Doctor Monday. I probably will go to Brigham &Womens next month and have them give me another CT and if they have the same diagnoses I believe a PET scan is next. I hope the VA read their films incorrectly for they had nothing to compare it too. I will post what my oncology Doctor tells me Monday afternoon. Thanks for your info regarding this new issue.  Phil A.

Phil

We finally gave up on having diagnostics done in different places even though it means we travel to PA for PET/CT's now. We broke down recently and did a CT locally (they compared it to the most recent CT done there which was prior to resolving lung mets last year). We thought it was better than not knowing if the chemo regimen we were using was working or not, but when they looked at CT from somewhere else next to most recent PET/CT it was useless (maybe if we had done CT alone on same machine as we used for PET/CT it would have been of some use???). We exposed him to lots of radiation for nothing, and did PET/CT a few weeks later with good results. We decided not to go that route again.

I know it becomes more complicated when you deal with the VA, so having it all on one machine may not be an option for you, but it really does help in reading results more accurately from one test to the next, and alleviates some of the stress that comes with unclear test results.