Scans post treatment

Mrs s said:

I was led to believe he would be scanned 3 monthly then 6 monthly etc  and we would have preferred the mri to have included his chest. 
Has anyone paid for a scan

Hi Mrs s

I’m a little confused  were all these ultrasounds done before or after treatment? 

As far as further scans are concerned You need to take this up with his clinicians and ask for an explanation. 

Nice guidelines are one PEt/CT or MRI at 12/16 weeks after end of treatment 

I had a full body PET/CT at 16 weeks but some hospitals still use only MRI

I have paid for an MRI elsewhere. They cost about 3 or 4 hundred per section of body. He would need a contrast agent and I’m not sure a self referral would cover that or whether it would have to be oncologist ordered. 
Yes you need to discuss this at his next review. He should still be being seen every six weeks. 
Do let us know how you get on 

Hi I agree with Dani, I am having 3 monthly mri contrast scans now just over 12 months after completion of chemorad treatments and 15 months after Laryngectomy operation both head and neck and torso to groin are covered and oncology and ENT get results 

Think perhaps push the Team more or money saving exercise 

Hope you get better support soon 

Take care 

Tony

Sorry I wasn’t clear . Initially he was losing blood from his mouth bright frank blood some clots , difficulty swallowing losing weight . Had a chest X-ray and uss gp put him on a 2 week wait in the meantime the blood loss was quite significant so went to a&e as suggested by gp . They didn’t do anything because he had a planned uss 3 days later !
Ent wanted to repeat uss which showed nodes increasing but because he couldn’t see anything when he scoped him he decided it was best to leave it another 4 weeks . After that scan the  same happened again this time suggesting a 6 week uss wait , my husband still spitting out blood etc. At this stage i wasn’t happy I stopped his blood thinners as the dr never got back to me and they finally biopsied one of the nodes.
To my husbands surprise he was told he had cancer . It was then I suggested the scans  ct mri and pet which I believe they failed to do . 

I have had a conversation with the ent consultant he had an 12 week post mri of his head&neck . But I have said you could t see a 4,5cm tumour before diagnosis in the base of tongue  how do you expect to see it  if it comes back or if it had already spread. His response is I now know the area in which it was.

He’s now 7 months post high dose chemo radiation. 
we’ll see what happens. 

Mrs s said:

. But I have said you could t see a 4,5cm tumour before diagnosis in the base of tongue  how do you expect to see it  if it comes back or if it had already spread. His response is I now know the area in which it was.

Base of tongue is difficult. My GP and my oncologist couldn’t see it but I could feel it with my finger. MRI and biopsy revealed it. 
I’ve had only scopes after post Tx PET and am confident it can be monitored that way. Your husband’s cancer was much more advanced than mine so I’m not surprised you’re worried. You can always seek a second opinion. 

Kasvin said:

I am having 3 monthly mri contrast scans now just over 12 months after completion of chemorad treatments

Hi Tony. Why are you having such frequent scans? 

Hi Dani

Couldn’t tell you they must like me ! I understand that Royal Surrey always have this process my last scan was the last week in March and still waiting for the results 

Hi dani and tony thanks for replying . The trouble is I am an oncology nurse I administer the treatments. So I have lots of things in my head .
Just having a down day 

Down days are allowed. I don’t blame you. Medical knowledge can be a real downer sometimes. Just tie your oncologist and CNS down. They owe you a proper explanation. 
I had my penultimate oncology appointment a few weeks ago. We sat down and went through all my scans and I had a proper tour round the back of my throat. It helps to understand how they can spot a recurrence. 
There is a trial called PetNeck in progress just now. Patients monitor themselves after a one year PET. Admittedly it’s only taking low risk patients but my oncologist tells me that 90% of recurrence is spotted by the patient rather than on routine nasoendoscopy.