Hi All,
I had my curative colorectal resection, liver metastases resection with adjuvant therapy in 2020 and all my surveillance scans were normal from last year but as last week was my third scan which showed normality in all the areas of treatment but CT picked up a 1.5 cm soft tissue nodule in peritoneal cavity immediately below my umbilicus belly button while my CEA tumour marker is very normal 0.56 I'm bit scared and my surgeon recommended PET scan and further investigation.
Radiologist comments in CT was like "it may raise concern of peritoneal recurrence"
Has anyone faced similar kind of problem.
My surgeon say PET may not pick up activity or it may pick one nodule or it may pick one nodule and identify if any areas.
Have anyone faced similar problem - please let me know I'm bit terrified to go down that route again as me and my family were returning from big trauma experienced in 2020 to normality from last few month even though I'm struggling with side effects of aggressive treatment and surgeries.
please let me know your opinion
That would be standard practice pre covid and there is a big push to return to normal practice. My mum has had very single 35 scans that she has had given in person . Never over the phone . That included good news and bad news , no deviance depending on the scan results .
I understand your concern , but on its own it’s not evidence of anything . They may even be inconclusive but wanting to offer a plan etc .
However the process is awful ! I feel for you and can assure you I am thinking of you a lot .
Court
Ok I understand . I think that’s really tough as you are almost left interpreting the silence . Having sat through a few of these difficult meetings can I just say he/she has said something really important . They have a plan for you .
Remember this is not a late diagnosis it’s something they have been monitoring and I can only say that in my mum’s case removing them whilst they are small and manageable has been life saving on more than one occasion.
Please hold onto that hope and I shall be holding you in my thoughts that if need be a plan and a solution will also be available that will lead you to a curative pathway .
Also be prepared that it is an image and the plan can sometimes be watch and wait . It is not always treatment until they get a better feel for things .
Hoping for better news for you but I am here to support you .
Court
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