Treatment

My husband was NED for 6.5 years. 

There is no blood test for melanoma so I am not sure what they would be looking for.

Up until now, he had been getting checked every six months.  This past year was moved to yearly.  The routine tests did lead to further testing which resulted in finding two other tumor that ended up being benign.  He has now recurred with melanoma and I now when we are done with whatever treatment we choose, we will again go to checks every 3 months for 3 years, then get bumped out again.

My advice would be to find someone who would continue to do the checks with PET scan, CT scan & MRI as necessary. My two cents for what they are worth.

Good luck!

barb

My husband was NED for 6.5 years. 

There is no blood test for melanoma so I am not sure what they would be looking for.

Up until now, he had been getting checked every six months.  This past year was moved to yearly.  The routine tests did lead to further testing which resulted in finding two other tumor that ended up being benign.  He has now recurred with melanoma and I now when we are done with whatever treatment we choose, we will again go to checks every 3 months for 3 years, then get bumped out again.

My advice would be to find someone who would continue to do the checks with PET scan, CT scan & MRI as necessary. My two cents for what they are worth.

Good luck!

barb

My husband was NED for 6.5 years. 

There is no blood test for melanoma so I am not sure what they would be looking for.

Up until now, he had been getting checked every six months.  This past year was moved to yearly.  The routine tests did lead to further testing which resulted in finding two other tumor that ended up being benign.  He has now recurred with melanoma and I now when we are done with whatever treatment we choose, we will again go to checks every 3 months for 3 years, then get bumped out again.

My advice would be to find someone who would continue to do the checks with PET scan, CT scan & MRI as necessary. My two cents for what they are worth.

Good luck!

barb

My husband was NED for 6.5 years. 

There is no blood test for melanoma so I am not sure what they would be looking for.

Up until now, he had been getting checked every six months.  This past year was moved to yearly.  The routine tests did lead to further testing which resulted in finding two other tumor that ended up being benign.  He has now recurred with melanoma and I now when we are done with whatever treatment we choose, we will again go to checks every 3 months for 3 years, then get bumped out again.

My advice would be to find someone who would continue to do the checks with PET scan, CT scan & MRI as necessary. My two cents for what they are worth.

Good luck!

barb

I am stage IIIC and I go to a major melanoma center.  I've had no scans after stage IIIC and I just celebrated 10 years of NED.  They gave several reasons for no scans and I disagreed with them for several years but had no energy to go anywhere else. I became okay with this when a woman I knew from this board pointed out to me as we were waiting to see our onc that the only thing different from the people we knew on this site who had progressed and us was the fact that we got no scans.  I'm not saying this is the reason, but I figured why change things now and I'm very happy I go where I go.  Well, go where I went as I haven't seen a doctor in many years.  Good luck to you.  Do whatever is comfortable for YOU.

DebbieH, stage IIIC, NED 10 years after interferon and no scans

I am stage IIIC and I go to a major melanoma center.  I've had no scans after stage IIIC and I just celebrated 10 years of NED.  They gave several reasons for no scans and I disagreed with them for several years but had no energy to go anywhere else. I became okay with this when a woman I knew from this board pointed out to me as we were waiting to see our onc that the only thing different from the people we knew on this site who had progressed and us was the fact that we got no scans.  I'm not saying this is the reason, but I figured why change things now and I'm very happy I go where I go.  Well, go where I went as I haven't seen a doctor in many years.  Good luck to you.  Do whatever is comfortable for YOU.

DebbieH, stage IIIC, NED 10 years after interferon and no scans

Hi,

I really think you should go with your 'gut' to be honest. Because, there is no way how anyone can tell you what to do. On the one hand, you could trust your new doctor and go just with the blood tests. But on the other hand, if you have used to this security by being scanned at your appointments, then maybe it is what you should keep doing. Cuz nothing is worse that being scared all the time, especially, if you have been cancer free for 14 years! 
My aunt was diagnosed with melanoma stage 3 in 2007, and she is now cancer free too. What keeps her fearless of cancer coming back is virotherapy. She uses Rigvir in order to activate her immune system and healthy cells. In general, virotherapy is used to treat melanoma, but it can be also used as a body renewal medicine. 
My point is, if you find CT scanning as your medicine to fear of cancer coming back, then you should keep doing it!
Best wishes!

Hi,

I really think you should go with your 'gut' to be honest. Because, there is no way how anyone can tell you what to do. On the one hand, you could trust your new doctor and go just with the blood tests. But on the other hand, if you have used to this security by being scanned at your appointments, then maybe it is what you should keep doing. Cuz nothing is worse that being scared all the time, especially, if you have been cancer free for 14 years! 
My aunt was diagnosed with melanoma stage 3 in 2007, and she is now cancer free too. What keeps her fearless of cancer coming back is virotherapy. She uses Rigvir in order to activate her immune system and healthy cells. In general, virotherapy is used to treat melanoma, but it can be also used as a body renewal medicine. 
My point is, if you find CT scanning as your medicine to fear of cancer coming back, then you should keep doing it!
Best wishes!