[Sherryg683]

My oncologist does not do the serum test or markers on me. I have PET/CT scans done every 3 to 4 months to make sure the cancer has not come back. He feels that there would be no reason to do both, he would do them if I wanted but the scans are enough. I am stage IV though and would not have it any other way. I have been NED now for 15 months and want to know immediately if something starts acting up so I can take quick action on it. I have a difference of opinion about catching it early, I had absolutely no symptoms when my mets and original cancer were diagnosed, if I had waited for symptoms my whole lungs may have been eaten up. I have a few small spots on my liver that have never lit up on a PET scan, I think it is beneficiary for us to keep an eye on them, just in case. I read on the John Hopkins question and answer board that if you catch mets when they are very few (two or less) and small you have a better chance of long term survival. To me that just makes sense. So I think there is a difference of opinions here even among Oncologists. If I had never been diagnosed with mets and was HER2+, I would still want some sort of scan done at least yearly because of the agressive nature of HER2. We pay out of my butt for our health insurance and I feel that using it on these scans are not a waste of money, this is life and death situations here. I get more perturbed when someone runs to the doctor every time they get a nose sniffle..sherryg683