Maureen,
the visual & palpation exam is the gold standard for H&N followup. The scope takes it even further. I haven't had the scope in over 1 1/2 years now. Truthfully my H&N surgeon doesn't rely on scans -it is the oncologist and RO who order the scans.

There is no pat answer here. The decision to scan or not is based on many variables - staging, health history and habits, response to treatment, tumor type and location. That is why there is so much controvery over the "to scan or not to scan" issue. Plus it's very often not the warm & fuzzy panacea that one would expect. Oftentimes there are anomalies, that may not mean a thing, except to cause way more angst. I didn't have a single clean MRI in the beginning -when what I WANTED to hear was that I was cured!

Then, omniously, there have been a few here who have had other issues, such as lung mets, detected early because of PET/CT's, etc.

This issue requires just as careful consideration as the initial treatment decisions.
I am sorry if this has raised more questions then answers but it is the way it is.