questions

[Lori]

Hi all
I've been reading your posts and am truly inspired by all the love and support on this message board. I was wondering what your thoughts are on the following: My radiation oncologist told me that if I ever had a recurrence of my breast cancer that it would be incurable and that she did not believe in scans! She said the scans are only as good as the operator and the person reading the scan. Also she didn't believe in any blood tests for tumor markers. I was very disturbed by all of this and was depressed for a week. She was just my doctor during radiation (thank goodness!) My true oncologist has made no mention of doing any blood tests. I have had a bone scan that was clear, and CT's of abdomen and pelvis and chest that were clear. He said no need to do PET scan.

I had 3 positive nodes at time of diagnosis but no evidence of spread at all yet. Am I being too overly concerned?

[Elisabeth from Ontario]

I am always amazed at how heartless many physicians can be. My oncologist told me the same but in a very kind manner- he just said that should I have a recurrance, that chemo would no longer provide a cure but that the goal of treatment would be to manage the disease as long as possibe with the best QOL. "Cured" what an ugly word! I don't think it matters at what stage we are in this life challenge, mets or primary. OUr lives are never the same, we will always have it looming in the back of our minds- will it be back? I like NED much better. As for scans and tumour markers, they are tools to monitor effectiveness of treatment. My oncologis is not a fan of tumour markers as are most in Ontario anyway. That doesn't matter to me. I monitor my own progress by how I feel physically, regular abdominal CT's,my liver function bloodwork and a simple chest xray and I am happy with that.
As a nurse, I have worked with docs for years, some just do not have people skills. I am blessed with a very genuine, caring onc who works with me to acheive my goals. So, my advise, is that there will always be docs like your radiation oncologist- fortuneately, they are not the manager of your BC you are! I am glad that your oncologist thinks differently.