Scans?
 

Since unfortunate lower CT a over a week ago, Mom's current onc has said chest CT and bone scans (no PET) are likely but they are not scheduled..will be discussed at meeting next Thursday. Somehow this seems either lax/slow or a bad sign.

I don't think it's either.

It's not a bad sign - the doctor just needs to get a handle on what ALL you're dealing with. Don't assume they will find anything - I had these after finding the liver mets and all the other scans were clear.

I also don't think it's necessarily lax/slow. These tests should be done soon, but it is not really super urgent. In fact, I think I had mine after my first chemo! I know I didn't feel that way at the time and neither do you probably, but possible findings of bone or lung mets (which is what he's hoping to rule out) would not necessarily change treatment recommendations.

To get the WHOLE picture, I would also ask for a brain MRI. Then you have a baseline. Chances are that this would also come back clean, but if anything was found, the treatment for these would probably be different than for the liver mets.

Above all, don't assume these additional tests will show anything wrong...it's just more information.

Onc said brain MRI only if symptomatic

That's what my OLD onc said - only if symptomatic...New onc said go for a baseline. THANK GOD for the baseline as it caught a tiny single met and I was able to gamma zap it away. I never even realized that brain mets were a common site for her2+ breast cancer to spread or I would have insisted on a brain MRI. I'd put it on the "to do" list. Waiting for symptoms is the old school of thought. If your insurance won't cover the scan then I guess your mom can start feeling dizzy. Insurance companies make lousy doctors.

Rich - N O ! That is archaic hogwash, and a friend of mine just 2 weeks ago found out that after asking her doc a couple of times for an MRI (he believed in waiting for symptoms, too) - and telling him she was having sporatic dizziness for a couple of weeks, that she had 5 brain tumors ranging in size from 9mm to 20 mm. She is now getting whole brain radiation and is scared to death. It is time for your mom to complain of (nudge nudge wink wink) dizziness, nagging headaches that don't go away with pain reliever, memory fogginess... there, she is now symptomatic.

Rich,

I would push for the brain MRI. Also if you're not getting the results you want from your current onc, you may want to consider changing to another.

I just received approval for my second brain MRI, which I'll be getting in two weeks. My last one was in May 2007, and I was just getting ready to ask for a follow-up when I was diagnosed with a met recurrence in my lung and had to take care of that first. I didn't (and don't) have any symptoms. It's just precautionary.

Listen to the ladies...
Asymptomatic brain mets are super treatable. True many oncs don't recommend MRI without symptoms but I think it's smart to get one periodically. Reminds me, I will be asking for one soon as I will have been off tykerb for nearly a year...