The PET scan takes longer. They inject you with a glucose solution which has to circulate for 45 mins. before your PET scan. Then you must lay perfectly still for 20-30 mins while they run the scan. So you might want to take an ativan or zanax if you consider yourself a baby. It's not bad---just very boring.
I had a scan two weeks after diagnosis, then another two months after treatment ended. I am 7 months out, and they haven't mentioned another upcoming scan. They have, however, emphasized the need for a yearly chest x-ray.
Scoping the throat and feeling around the oral cavity is considered the best follow-up according to my ENT.
Left tonsil SCC, HPV+. T2N0M0. Tonsillectomy 3-07, bilateral radiation, cisplatin 3x, Tx completed 6-06. Clear PET 4-01-2008.
Thyroidectomy 5-9-08, resulting in permanent surgically-induced hypoparathyroidism and adrenal problems. Bummer.
| 
