Is getting a CT scan & bone scan standard for early breast cancer?

Everybody is different, and each treatment recommendation needs to be individualized. My best advice is to find the very best doctor available, then discuss your situation with them. That may or may not be the same doctor you have seen before. Every recurrence, and/or new cancer may be different. Nurses are wonderful, (I have family members who are/were nurses) but IMO it’s the doctor themself who has the education, knowledge, and experience to advise you about your individual situation. Then, after you have received the information needed from your physician, then make your own decision about treatment. It’s your body, nobody else but you lives inside your body. Best of luck to you!

My oncoligist requested I get a bone scan but it had nothing to do with my breast cancer diagnosis. She wanted to find out the condition of my bones (get a baseline scan) before she prescribed an aromatase inhibitor. The AIs cause bone loss as a side effect and she wanted to know if she had to forget the AIs and prescribe tamoxifen instead.

She us recommending a bone density (DEXA) test to obtain a baseline for aromatase inhibitor treatment since AIs are hard on your bones.