My dad completed radiation in February, had a clean Pet scan 3 months ago, still can't eat, using feeding tube & we found out today that there is " activity" on his latest scan. This is bad, right? Is there any possible way this isn't bad? He had a barium test the day before the scan. Could that give a false positive? We see the rad dr & ENT next week. Will they definetly do surgery or will he have chemo again or both? How bad is if going to be? Pleae be honest. I'm sorry for all the questions, but I'm scared to death. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

What type of scan and where was this activity? Inflamation and healing can reveal itself as "activity" but too many unknowns to help you with this post.

Before you start thinking if the "activity" in bad, it would be good, (as Davidcpa suggests) to find out what kind of scan it was and where the activity is located. Maybe you or his primary caregiver could find out if you don't already know. When my son had a CT scan and an area of concern showed up on his lung, I was a basket case of worry but it turned out just to be scar tissue from pneumonia that he had previously. Right now you don't know if it's bad or not, so try not to worry, keep busy and get back to us so we can know what's happening.

Take it from some one who has had more than one test that looked bad at first but turned out to be not so bad once all the data was in. Scans can show healing tissue, infections, radiation damage and other non cancer related issues as active.

Its hard, but try and wait for the full analysis to come in from the doctors before jumping to any conclusions.

By the way I should say "do as I say not as I do" as many on this board have seen this happen to me as I jumped in the totaly wrong direction based on incomplete information.

There could be swelling causing it to light up. PET scans (assuming this is what he had) are known for false positives, it happened to me. This is especially common if the patient didnt prepare for the PET. When going for a PET scan you should avoid activity and rest the day before and of the test. Plus the day before drink lots of water (48 oz minimum), avoid carbs and sugar. This will help ensure more accurate results.

Hope it turns out to be a false positive instead of something more serious.

Hope all is well. Could be many factors as mentioned, and type of scan is a factor..PET/CT, MRT, CT, Sonagram..for acivity, maybe the uptake (hot spot) in a PET, which are highly sensitive, have high rate of false positives after treatmrnt, scar tissue, injury, etc, even talking during or before the PET can show activity. I wonder why another scan was done after a scan was done 3 months ago with an all clear? All the best, and hope for good news.

It was a PET scan and the activity they found was in his neck. He had BOT cancer which spread to lymph nodes in his neck before. I'm just nervous because I don't see how they could have done a PET scan 3 months ago and it was clear, then he doesn't have anymore treatments and there's activity on this PET scan. It doesn't sound right to me. Am I crazy to be worried about this?

Sorry. I have another question. What can we expect for our appts this week? We're seeing the radiation dr and the ENT. How are they going to determine if it was just a false positive? Can they tell that just by reading the report again or do they have to do a biopsy or what? Thank you!

To truly know if it's CA they have to do a biopsy. PETs show areas of active uptake of sugar. It could be healing, and injury or infection hopefully it's not cancer, but likely if they are concerned they can often tell if the nodes are clustered and by location - then they will do a biopsy - good luck and take care.

Thank you. Cheryl, so they can do a biopsy on the lymph nodes? Will they do it there in the office and will we find out right away or will they have to send it off? The waiting is killing me! Thanks for your help

Called a Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA). Just inserts a needle into a suspected node and withdrawns cells. Not always accurate as the cells withdrawn may not contain the cancer cells but is a quick and easy way to determine if cancer is present if they get the cancer cells.

Thank you. At least maybe we'll find something out tomorrow. That's good news. Thanks.

Well not tomorrow as the withdrawn fluid is sent to a pathologist which usually takes anywhere from 1 to 2 weeks to get their report.

Kevin had a punch biopsy in the lymph node on a Friday and we knew on Monday. I actually knew right away from what the pathologist said and how she looked when she came in to let the doctor know she had what she needed. They let me stay in the room while they did it. They did that using Ultrasound though, so it was not in the office, it was at the hospital. Good luck tomorrow. Let us know.
Kathy

Kathy,

How do they do a punch bio on a node?

They can do a FNA - fine needle aspiration in the office, but these are hit or miss... since it's only as good as the area hit. A proper biopsy in a surgical clinic should be done. It will likely take the usual time frame though you can ask up front if they will send it for a quick look.
best of luck and I sincerely hope it's nothing.

Well, it sounds like the news isn't too bad right now. They're not super worried about the activity on the Pet Scan now. He goes back to the ENT in 4 weeks and then he'll decide if he wants to do a biopsy. He said he's hesitant to do one because it "won't be a walk in the park" for dad. He said it's not something you want to do all the time. I wasn't really sure what he meant by that. Is that because it's risky to put him under due to all the swelling and irration in his throat or is it because of the biopsy itself? The next day we got some bad news. He went to get his throat stretched again to help him eat and the doctor said he can't stretch it anymore because his throat is so brittle from the treatments. They're afraid of rupturing it so he was told he'll be on the Peg tube the rest of his life. This was really disappointing and depressing. Not eating has been the hardest part of this for him. Thanks for listening.

Oh no....not good. I think this is one of Kevin's biggest fears. While there are MANY on these forums who are living/thriving like this, it doesn't mean everyone likes it. So sorry for the news. I hope in time your dad will be able to accept this and get on with things. Food is such a social thing.
Will be thinking of you guys,
Kathy

I'm turning 65 and I certainly do not like never being able to eat or taste anything or even have a sip of water, but I have over a half century of memories of delicious meals, foods and drinks to remember. It's difficult but doable.
Of course, if I did not have my wife and my son to live for, it would be a different story as I agree wholeheartedly that this is "disappointing and depressing". No way to sugarcoat it.
Charm

I am confined to soft foods, jello, ice cream, cheese cake and such. I can go out to dinner but stick to soup and dessert, so there is a middle ground. I get most nutrition through peg.

Try acupuncture it's been successful for helping with swallowing for some people. Take care.