Penelope: My two cents, for what its worth, is I kind of agree with Mark. CT/PET scans are tools available to doctors to help find, diagnose, this very nasty disease. The technology exists and we should use it, especially with people who are already victims. The way the medical industry works in this country, and I think we have the best system in the world, though just because its the best doesn't mean it can't be improved, insurance companies make expenditures for expensive tests more difficult if it is not part of a "standard" medical procedure. In fact, they make it very difficult for doctors to collect fees by arbitrarily denying payment, reducing current payments for years old mistakes they say they made, etc. My wife is the insurance specialist at a doctors office and vents every night about the abuses of insurance companies. However, that is a different story. Bottom line, Penelope, is if your doctors aren't recommending scans periodically, you should at least ask why not and be ready, in my opinion, to insist that you get them at some regular interval. My first scan after surgery is in mid-August and will hopefully be negative. So I suggest you get a scan soon also.