At what point are tests ran?

[lasarles]

I have read many posts here regarding brain scans, blood markers, CT scans..etc. I asked my oncologist from the get go about these tests and he said that he saw no reason for any of these scans unless I was having pain somewhere. A couple months prior to my dx, I starting having some pain in my groin. I was getting ready for a ski trip and probably just pulled a muscle. It was when I mentioned this that they did a CT/Whole body bone scan. Both came back with no cancer detected. I just wandered if there should be certain scans done routinely. How does one know if they have brain mets or tumors in the liver?

[tammymarie1971]

The big scary what to ignore and what to take seriously...it's hard for us to trust our bodies again... Not everyone is susceptible to the tumor markers they work for some and some not...I think that most of us use a 2 week rule..to not get too worried unless a symptom hangs on longer than 2 weeks...within reason of course...and you could always say you have headaches that worry you...that should get you in for a scan....
Tammy

[Kellennea]

I always ask for scans of some sort and I am always told that because I was stage II with no node involvment, I wouldnt get them. But I did demand yearly chest MRIs because my breast tissue is so dense, so that was a plus. I do get tumor markers drawn every visit (every 3 months, but just graduated to every 4 months). My Oncologist has been doing tumor markers since I was dx and I didnt even know it until I saw something on here and asked her about them, so she gave me a print out of them from the begining. Now it's the first thing I ask about during my visits.

K.

[BonnieR]

I'd say that in general scans are not done routinely unless there are indications. All I ever got regularly were lab tests. And scans can have a down side by resulting in false positives
Keep the faith