Do you get routine scans for breast cancer followup?

Posted by cathyhand @cathyhand, Mar 27, 2020

Does anyone have routine scans or test. I do not. I have had several friends with other types of cancer and they have scans every 6 months yet BC patients have to wait for symptoms which is usually later than one would hope for. Does this seem fair???
Stage II B, bilateral estrogen positive

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@mbear

@cathyhand I wondered if you had some discussion on your follow up. Were you able to get a review scheduled or an explanation for the approach? I have yearly mammograms to check-ins and like others with dense breast tissue, sometimes an MRI or ultrasound is needed for a double-check (scar tissue and what not). Let me tell you that waiting for another scan when they find something is un-nerving. šŸ™

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I will not have any scans unless symptoms. I do have blood work every 6 months. It just bothers me that we cannot have regulars bone scans or CT scans at least once a year. Doc said that they can be harmful over time but undetected cancer can kill you, seems that Trump's other. My Ortho doc said cancer shows up in bone scan 6 months before symptoms and that oncologist just don't want to be bothered running down every little problem that might show up in a scan. To me time is life. Many other types of cancers have regular scans to check for metastis, guess I don't understand why not with BC since it kills thousands yearly.

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I had early stage two breast cancer with minimal spread to lymph nodes two years ago. I have complete trust in my oncologist and follow her recommendations. She is very open to discuss anything I need to understand. I see her every 6 months for follow up that includes mammogram. I love her common sense approach and that she is concerned about my wellness in general not just breast cancer. I talked to her about my fears of recurrence at my last visit a few months ago. She told me that too many women are so concerned about recurrence of breast cancer, that other health issues can sneak up on them unnoticed. Her advise was to enjoy life, move forward, and quit worrying about recurrence. If breast cancer does come back weā€™ll address it together at that time. I loved that she said, weā€™ll address it ā€˜togetherā€™. I got tears in my eyes knowing that she is on my side, and Iā€™m not alone in this. Nobody wants cancer to return, but if it does, I know everything possible is being done and will continue to be done to help me get through it the second time. Nobody has a ā€˜magic wandā€™ or miracle treatment to prevent or cure cancer. We must move forward with treatment, get through it, and put cancer behind us. Iā€™ve learned thatā€™s really hard to do, but the alternative of driving myself crazy worrying about recurrence is a ā€˜cancerā€™ in itself. Best of luck to everyone on this site, you all have helped me to feel like Iā€™m not alone on this journey.

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Totally agree and I try to move on and live my life. I have total faith in God and my doctor but having just recently had friends with other cancer and wondered why they have screenings regularly so as to find any recurrence early and bc patients have to just wait on symptoms.

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