Report that Rad Onc. to the medical boards!

Lori-
I am MORTIFIED that you had to hear such garbage from your Rad Onc and I really think you should report her to the medical board.How incredibly inappropriate and unprofessional.She can not predict the future, clearly has not kept up with current BC tx & survival rates.How dare she say anything to cause you to lose hope and question your survival?How thoughtless of her!
So what if they never use the term "cured" w/regard to Stage IV disease...there are many long, long, long term survivors.I plan to be one of them and expect to die of old age even if my docs never do say I was "cured"!
There's no such thing as being "overly concerned" once you've been through what we've been through.I suggest that you look more closely at your path report from your tumor biopsy.The characteristics of your tumor are a better indication of how aggressive the tumor type was (& potential for distal metastasis) rather than just 3+nodes...for example, are you her2+? what was the Sphase? aneuploid or diploid?tumor grade?
As far as TM's, did you have any drawn when you were first dx'd, before radiation?That would be important to have b/c you watch for changes & you could determine if your TM's accurately reflect your response to tx.At this point, if you don't have active disease, it may not be helpful.
I have had every type of scan to look at liver mets vs.scar tissue, questionable activity, suspicious lesions etc.If your CT's don't show any abnormal or suspicious lesions or nodules, I would agree that there's no need to do a PET scan since there's nothing unusual that needs to be double checked.
We do have to be our own greatest advocates and keep the closest watch on our own care.The best way to do that is to be educated.There is so much information from so many brave, knowledgable women (&men)on this board.I hope my opinions have been helpful, but you have to do what feels right for you.
Take good care & keep the faith!