Yes. It had already spread to my lymph nodes, and they wanted to make sure it hadn’t spread anywhere else yet. (It hasn’t)

They did a PET scan on me before I started chemo.

Yes. Having a Dexascan next week. Insurance only covers it once every two years.

I begged for a PET scan and they think I was silly. IBC stage 3.

@mjpayan. More likely they thought it was too expensive. That attitude pervades, unfortunately. My docs insisted on a pet scan before my surgery. They told me it was the only way they could tell how widespread the cancer was. Please advocate for yourself and find someone who sees the worth and is willing to do it.

Thanks for your quick response. I bet it had a lot to do with clean lymph nodes. They only took two.

I asked for a pet scan after my first chemo treatment. It turned out my partial mastectomy wasn’t healed needed to be packed for two months. Then I could continue with 5 more treatments and radiation. I was very concerned.

Understandable to be concerned. I still say we need to be our best advocates. If they don't explain things well enough, we need to keep asking until we understand. It all can be so overwhelming and confusing!