Today was my first scan post treatments. I won't know anything for 2 weeks, that's when my appointment is. They won't give any info over the phone, but I will try anyway. I hoping for the best, I will let the board know what happens. With all of you, my new found friends, that's a lot of positive energy working for me!

Good Luck, Bob! It'll be hard to wait that long, but I have a feeling that you'll get good news, and then you can breathe more freely. I had my first post-surgical scan at 1 year, and it was clear. Phew!!

Bob,

I am sorry that you have to wait so long. We only had to wait 3 hours from the CT scan until we got the results for my husband - totally negative - and I know I pretty much felt sick to my stomach the whole time waiting. That is one thing the medical profession needs to get better at making people wait for things. I do hope you will also have good test results. We already know Michael's next test his first PET / CT scan on April 27, we will have to wait over the weekend for the results and that seems like a long time to us. Good luck!

Barbara S
C/G to Michael age 58, stage 1 base of tongue SC cancer and a stage one for a couple lymph nodes, diagnosed 09/12/06, IMRT radiation 10/24/06 to 12/05/06 (twice per day the last two weeks), first CT totally negative 01/23/07

Good luck Bob, we had to wait until our appointment too with a similar time frame. The first one is the hardest to wait for but then - like everything else - you get into the routine. I'm not going to say try not to think about it because that's not realistic, but just know it's part of our shared experiences here and that everyone is sending more positive energy your way.

Don't forget that false positives are common, Jack had 2 scans that showed areas lighting up that turned out to be just persistent swelling - 3rd one was finally all clear. You'll get through this.

Regards JoAnne

Bob,
don't freak out if it's not squeaky clean, it's common for scar tissue to give false positives in the early post Tx. In fact often times many other types of scans will also show false positives or the reading radiologist will flag "so-called" suspicious areas that turn out to be nothing. They have to diligently report every anomaly they find, even if it is a result of the treatment. Scans are only a component of post Tx followup and, in themselves, are not definitive.

The first scans often show up "hot" areas (if it's a PET scan) that are really inflammation, infecion or scarring. A radiologist who sees lot of head and neck scans can usually distinquish most of these from cancer, but if the radiologist is not as experienced, he/she will probably be super-cautious. That is the reason additional scans are done in a few months' time.

Really rough having to wait so long -- the hospital called us that afternoon with the results as they knew we were fretting...is there any way to find out sooner (call your oncology nurse?).

Gail

Hi bob,

Hope all goes well.

Here is something for you as well as everyone else. I get both my scan and appointment with Dr. same day.

I have scan in the morning and then Dr. appointment done about an hour or so after. He checks me out and looks at scan on the computer while I am there. Then he says looks good but will have it checked to make sure. I go home feeling OK for the day.

Talk to your Dr. see if this can be done where you are.

Take care,
Diane

My first post-surgical scan, at one year, showed a bothersome "diffuse area of increased uptake" in the surgical area. It was diagnosed as inflammation, and that was confirmed by visual exam by my surgeon. It is not quite as much of a hoorah moment as getting the all-clear, but I eventually got that anyway. I hope that's the case with you.