How long after chemo is ct scans

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Hello, 

my dad has colorectal cancer, he had chemo and radio therapy last year then surgery this year to remove the last of it.  We was told straight after surgery they got it all. 
a few weeks later he was told he’d have to have preventative chemo which finished 4th October.  On 13th October he ended up in a&e with a blood clot on the lung, the doctors didn’t seem worried or keep him in, and he is fine already. 

however he had a ct scan booked for 7th November, but they have just called to cancel as they are using the ct scan from a&e on 13th October.  

I’ve gone into a spiral of worrying! Is this normal a ct that soon after chemo? Or does that mean they’ve seen something bad already? 

  • Hi  I finished my chemo on 26/7/17 and had a scan on 14/8/17 -if you click on my name then you’ll see my timeline of scans etc. So yes it’s normal and then he’ll have follow up monitoring scans over the next 3 years

    Take care

    Karen x

    Macmillan Support Line - 0808 808 00 00, 7 days a week between 8am-8pm
  • Thank you so much!! I think I’m just slightly mental now, I can spiral over the smallest things! 

    im also pretty sure it was you last year who answered me a few times and helped me calm down Heart

  • It's sooo easy to get into a spiral after an experience like this.  I have worry spirals and need to be talked down on a regular basis. I used to be a very calm person! 

    It's a process. Lol

  • Thank you Susan, I’ve just read your story Heart️ I can understand worrying spirals, especially as you are the person going through it, I feel a bit of a fraud even coming on here because it’s not happening to me, and my dad is so positive ( he got the call for the cancelled scan and just said brilliant saves another day at the hospital) I went 0-100 in 5 seconds. 

    It feels like the longest most awful rollercoaster. x 

  • It is absolutely a roller-coaster! 

    Let me put this in all caps because it is very important:

    YOU ARE NOT A FRAUD AND YOU BELONG HERE 100%

    I honestly think, in some ways, it is harder on family and loved ones than it is on the patient. I currently have a sister struggling with ovarian cancer and a brother-in-law with pancreatic cancer. I know how much I worry about them so I can relate.

  • Thank you Heart️ 

    i think for me through dads treatment I was ok to deal with stuff but the waiting for results etc is the bit I can’t cope with. X

  • Waiting is the hardest part for me too. So much easier when we have a plan, things to do, a schedule to follow.