help about symptoms?????

[Alice]

I just read the post titled "symptoms of mets" and I have some questions for any of you out there that can ease my mind. I finished chemo 9/05 had sx 10/05 finished radiation 1/23/06 herceptin 1/06 thru 6/06 stoped due to cardiac problems. I have had an ache in my left pelvic area for about 8 weeks and weight loss. My Gp ordered pelvic ultrasound which showed a cyst on left ovary.He also ordered an abdominal ct to confirm this, which it did. What suprised him and me was the presence of multiple 5 mm densities in the periferal lower lung lobes of both lungs. Recomendation to have a chest ct in 3 months. Having no symptoms my onc said that I should have chest x ray done at that time. I know my onc doesn't like to do tests unless there are symptoms due to false positives and exposure to radiation in addition to there being no difference in overall outcome. Knowing this, a part of me still wants to know, even if nothing can be done about it what the likelyhood is that these are mets. My onc did use the term " nodules" which to me beeing in the vet med field means "mets". Any advice you can give me I do apreciate.

Thanks, Alice

[John21]

Keep on him. They start small, but as you know. For my wife, I try not to drop the ball. I want to be ahead of everything. Call your Onc. again and say you want the ct/pet scan sooner.



John

[Lolly]

I agree with John, a PET/CT asap. If these are indeed mets, you can't sit around for 3 months letting them spread further. Many here have successfully dealt with lung mets. Navelbine/Herceptin is a great combo for this, and given your break from Herceptin these last 3 months, it's quite likely your heart muscle has recovered (this has also happened to several here) and you can resume Herceptin. If the heart is still compromised, and you're dealing with mets, you can also ask to see a cardiologist who should be able to get you on some meds which will stabilize the heart and allow you to resume Herceptin(again, this too has been the case with several who've posted here; this site is wonderful that way!).
I think your instincts are correct in wanting to know sooner rather than later. Please keep us posted.

<3 Lolly

[AlaskaAngel]

I am 4 years out and NED and having tests that involve rads as more and more time goes by is a difficult question. This is where sometimes when I am sitting on the fence about it, having either a CA15-3 or CA27.29 can provide just one more tiny bit of info.

For example, I was very reluctant to have a recent bone scan (which turned out to be clear). My markers came back fine as well. But I went ahead with it because I am having other labs that are out of range, and I believe my doc was just trying to make sure that I wasn't having cancer problems in addition to some of the things that cause labs to be crazy at middle age.

At any rate, given the info you have... if it were me I would want to have further testing--even with more radiation--sooner rather than later.

In addition, do you happen to be a smoker or have a history of being one?

Are you noticing any consistent change in your ability to breathe, including recovery after moderate exercise?

AlaskaAngel

[StephN]

Hi Alice -
That happens to be my middle name!

To my mind, the advice from others here to not sit on those "hypodensities" is good. Hopefully your med onc will not feel challenged by your wish to go a step further sooner than 3 months.

I have been having various scans for years now, but they are necessary to make sure I am still NED and that Herceptin alone is working to keep that way.
There was a thread here not long ago about the risks of the radiation from scans.
My med onc seems to feel that there is basically no increased risk from CTs every 6 months. We used to do them more oftem, but my tumor markers are good indicators so far and these are taken every 3 weeks. This way I am kept pretty close to his radar screen.

Let us know how this goes for you, OK?