I think it would depend somewhat at what stage was w/ the original diagnosis. I am stage 3, and finished treatment in Jan 04. I was seen quarterly by either the surgeon or the oncologist. However, I felt a change in my lymph nodes on my own last fall, and saw the team then. It was a reoccurrence, and I had surgery, and am finishing up w/ taxotere and herceptin (and then I will just receive the herceptin).
I got a second opinion at the reoccurrence, and that doctor also told me it is often the patient who notices the change, oftentimes before any scheduled test would pick it up... It's a fine line for me to believe I'm cured, but to be vigilant about body changes...
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