brain mri timing?

[eric]

I'm not quite sure what to do and I welcome any input. My wife, Caryn, was diagnosed with mets to lungs and liver by PET and CAT in July. She just completed her 3rd week of gemzar/herceptin and I'm nervous about the prospect of brain mets. When I questioned him on brain scan he said that it was covered by the Pet. From all of the great input here I know that the PET is not nearly as sensitive as an MRI. As a result, I want her to get an MRI but I'm not sure the best timing for it. Because of the cost I'm sure they won't do these frequently so you almost have to get lucky to catch anything early enough. She's scheduled for follow up scans in September and I was thinking of pressing the issue then but I do get very nervous with every headache she has (most likely from medications). Plus doing it along with the other scans would'nt alert her to any fears that I'm having. Any suggestions are welcome.

Thank you, Eric

[Sarah]

Eric,

I hadn't read that PET scan is not as sensitive as the MRI. I hadn't found any info. on the comparison of the two. My sister had a PET scan to restage her and I thought that would cover her for the possibility of Brain Mets (at least until the next round of scans, maybe in 3 more months). Where did you read about the comparison? Here on this site, or somewhere else.

Any information you had would be helpful. Maybe some of the other women on this site will be able to share too.

Thank you.

[Lisa]

Eric,
You're right to question PET. It is NOT as effective as MRI for brain. It has false positives and negatives. An MRI is the best scan you can do for brain. With mine, mets as small as 1mm showed up. Although I don't know how frequently I'll now have the, I assume with no mets showing, quarterly is good.

Do have a brain MRI, either now or in September. And have one quarterly after that.

Love and light,

Lisa

[merry]

I think the PET scans are limited to >5mm. If the lesion is smaller, an alternate scan (MRI or CT) would be more likely to catch it.

[eric]

Thanks to all for your repsonses. My feeling now is that I am going to push for the MRI in Sept unless I het to nervous before then.
Sara, I read about the benefits of MRI at this site. I'll let everyone know what the onc has to say when I start the ball rolling.

Best wishes, Eric