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Hi, My name is Margaret and I was also stageIIIb in Nov.2001 at age 38. I also was told the same thing by my onc when I was done with my treatment. It made me very nervous. I am NED now and I just recently started to understand the benefits of not having regular scans as part of my follow up. I do get full blood work done every six months but that is all. I think some of the benefits of not doing the scan work are distancing myself from being defined by my 'disease'. At first I was extremely anxious and perhaps just waiting for the next 'bad news' to come. Without having to deal with the anxiety that I would feel around every scan has been a real blessing. I think it's been helpful to really put my mind on a healthy, disease-free course. In other words, I feel cured and I live my life every day as if I am cured. I stay focused on filling my life up with positive aspects and try very hard to stay out of fear and the 'what if's'. I'm actually now glad that my onc didn't have me do regular scans. It keeps me moving forward in life and not look back. I do have faith that if something does happen in my body, I'll know when I need to know and then I'll go back into attack mode and treat it with everything available. Right now I'm grateful that I'm alive today and living life to the fullest.
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